Lacene Lords

by Fornataro, Nancy

  Jake arrived home at six that night, after a hard day as mayor of Lacene. The job, he thought, may just be too much for him.

  Walking past his SUV and up the back stairs, he remembered how excited he'd been when election results showed him to be the clear winner a year ago. "Too long," he muttered to himself, "just too goddamn long." And he wondered how Willie was healing up. He'd been thinking about his grandson all afternoon.

  He came in the cool kitchen to a burst of laughter. Spence was doubled over, Meg held both hands in front of her face and Lila waved to him.

  "You all drinking without me?" he said, as he raided the refrigerator for a beer. "Wait, let me catch up." He chugged half the beer, went upstairs to check on Willie.

  The room was dark as Jake went in, and he flipped on Willie's bedside light. Although he was shocked at Willie's condition he didn't let on. "How you doing Will?"

  "I'm okay Grandpa." He went to sit up, then thought better of it and relaxed against the pillows.

  Jake sat on his bed. "You want to tell us who did this son?"

  "Can't Grampa. I'm no squealer."

  Sighing, Jake replied, "They need to be punished Will."

  But Willie just stared off into the distance. "Grandpa, when you met Grandma, did you know she was the one? I mean permanent?"

  Jake looked thoughtful. "I guess you could say that. Should have seen her back then. She was really a looker. Long, reddish blonde hair, light blue eyes a man could get lost in."

  "Where did you two meet?"

  "Fourth of July, Willie. They had a parade in Rushburg. Don't even know why I went that day. Just nothin' better to do, I guess. Saw her standing with a girlfriend. Every pick-up line and smooth move I ever had went out the window. Just stared at her. Her friend noticed and nudged her."

  "So then what?"

  "Wow. When she finally looked over at me, it really was like Fourth of July. She was a cool woman though. Ended up walking over to the two of them, but she wouldn't give me the time of day."

  Willie smiled. "What did you do then?"

  "Asked her if she was thirsty. She said no. Then I asked her if she was hungry. She said no again. Turned to leave me, with her friend giggling all the while. I touched her on the arm, to try to stop her from going, and she shook me off. What a feisty woman she was." Jake looked thoughtful then. "Hasn't changed much."

  Laughing now, Willie said, "Yeah. I've heard her put you in your place Grandpa. So how did you get her to go out with you?"

  "Called Judge Janine. Except, she was just Janine back then. She always seemed to have her ear to the grapevine. Told me where your Grandma lived. So I went over to her house."

  "I bet Grandma was surprised to see you."

  "Hmph. Didn't seem like it. She opened the door and looked me up and down like she was sizing up a horse or something. Then I handed her the flowers I'd picked up for her. She thanked me then closed the door in my face."

  "Oh my God, Gramps. What happened then?"

  "Well, the next day and the day after that I brought her flowers. Same thing happened. Finally, on the fourth day, I didn't let her close the door. Put my foot against it. You should have seen the look she gave me. If looks could kill, I'd be a dead man. Then I told her she really needed to go out with me that night. Again, she looked me up and down. Then all of a sudden she smiled a little smile. I knew I had her after that."

  "How long did you guys date?"

  "Well, she was seventeen and I was twenty. Wanted to wait until she was of age, you know, eighteen at least."

  "Grandpa, did you...I mean, you know how it is with a man and a woman. Did you and Grandma wait until your wedding to...you know."

  Jake smiled. "Had to. Didn't want to, but back then I guess things were different. Don't get me wrong, we played a bit. But the women were less forward than today. They dressed different. Nowadays, I look at the teens and wonder how they can dress like they do. A lot of tits and ass, son."

  Willie laughed at that. "That's the fun part Grandpa. Just looking at them."

  "That Susie's not a bad looking girl. You behavin' yourself with her?"

  "Yeah. Pretty much."

  "Watch yourself Will. Get her pregnant, there'll be hell to pay."

  "Don't worry Grandpa. I got it covered."

  Jake came downstairs about twenty minutes later and sat next to Lila. After discussing Willie's health, he put an arm around her, kissed her cheek then nuzzled her neck. "With you as a wife," he whispered, "a man wants to live forever."

  She had a slight smile on her face, which led him to kiss her again.

  "Dad," Meg implored drunkenly, "leave the poor woman alone. She's had a hard day."

  They all exploded with laughter.

  "I'm missing the point here," Jake said. "What gives?"

  Lila said, "Willie's dad was here. The famous, I mean infamous, Professor Tim Grainger. Woo-hoo."

  "The bastard's father," Jake said, as a foul mood descended on him.

  There was a sudden silence. Meg let out a sob, got up and ran out of the room.

  "What?"

  Slowly, Spence replied, "You know what. Why do you hurt her like that, Jake?"

  Jake sniffed. "Don't mean to hurt anyone. Guess it's just my religion."

  "Oh, God," Lila said, throwing her hands in the air, "here we go."

  "Does your religion have forgiveness, Jake?" Spence asked.

  "Catholics do," Lila said firmly, "and the sinners are without repentance, and without is the main word." She faced Jake. "She's not a sinner. Never was. You and your stupid fornication. Kiss my ass, Jake Cowell." She got up and left the table.

  Jake and Spence went to sit on the back porch.

  "Never saw such a woman," Jake told Spence, "docile one minute and firebrand the next. Never know what to expect."

  "Back to forgiveness," Spence said dryly.

  "I forgave," Jake said bitterly, "when she came back here with some man's seed in her belly. I forgave the crying and the depression and the pill overdose." He looked off into the distance. "But most of all, I forgave Willie. He's innocent. Never did anything to anyone. Love him with all my heart. That I do."

  *****

  "It feels chilly in here," Renee said to Meg, "what's the air set at?"

  Meg went to the wall monitor. "Seventy-five."

  "Leave it then," Lex told her. "That's pretty typical in these situations."

  Spence watched them set up their instruments in the living room. "What are you doing now?" He sat on the sofa.

  Lex said, "We're setting up thermometers, night vision and thermographic cameras. We also use garden variety video and audio recorders."

  "Our K-2 meter," Renee said, "uses LED's to measure the energy fields. The EMF detector will determine if there are any foot falls in the room. People walking, in other words."

  After they were done setting up equipment, and their computers, Renee sat by Meg and Lex sat by Spence.

  "What time is it?" Meg said nervously.

  Lex answered, "Nine-thirty."

  Meg started wringing her hands, before Renee took both of them in hers. "You sure you're okay with this?"

  "I think so," Meg said, hesitating. She let go of Renee's hands. Her mouth felt dry and she regretted the liquor she'd had to drink earlier.

  The silence in the room grew, along with Meg's anxiety, as the minutes ticked by. Thirty minutes, forty minutes, then an hour. A few of the machines made whirring sounds, but other than that, everything was quiet.

  They all sat, watching and listening.

  But, suddenly, Meg shivered violently.

  Renee said nothing, just watched her.

  Meg stood and walked to the bottom of the staircase. Her long hair was electrified, rising up on its own. Her hand reached out to touch something.

  "Chad?" she whispered.

  The machines were registering now but Lex and Renee just sat, silently observing.

  A light materialized in the dining room. It was fuzzy, yet bright, wi
th soft edges. Renee gasped and looked at Lex.

  "Chad?" Meg repeated.

  The light pulsed, and moved towards Meg.

  Spence rose from the couch, but Lex grabbed his arm and forced him down again.

  The light was almost upon Meg now.

  She wailed, and made a strangled sound in her throat. Her hands went to the base of her neck as she emitted another cry.

  The eerie light was upon her. "No!" Meg shrieked, as she clawed her throat, "Stop!"

  Spence felt paralyzed and he couldn't move, talk or get up to help her.

  But the overhead light flipped on then, and Harv asked, "Miss Meg, you okay?"

  The spell broke. Meg fell into his arms as Spence, Renee and Lex could breathe again.

  Spence helped Meg into the living room after thanking Harv.

  "Where were you?" Meg said to Spence. "The light, it was strangling me!"

  Renee and Lex looked at each other. "Worst case scenario," Renee said softly, "a spirit with criminal intent."

  Harv still stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Can I do anything Spence?"

  "No, Harv. I think we'll call it a night. Thanks."

  Renee and Lex gathered up equipment while Spence comforted Meg.

  "We'll get together in a couple days," Renee told her.

  But, before they left, Renee sat with Meg. Placing a hand on each side of Meg's head, she said, "Let it go now." After a few seconds, Renee sucked in a deep breath. Meg visibly relaxed.

  "Wish I could do that," Spence said as he watched them.

  Renee dropped her hands. "It's in everyone. The sensing mechanism, I mean. You just have to work on it."

  After Lex and Renee left, Meg and Spence still sat in the living room.

  Spence put his arms around her. "I couldn't move, Meg. The spirit did something. I couldn't even talk."

  She shivered hard at that news. "Maybe Lila's right. We shouldn't conjure up the demon. It wasn't Chad. He'd never hurt me. It's something else. Something evil."

  He kissed her face and drew her close.

  "Now I don't feel safe," she continued. "It will get me Spence. It will kill me."

  "No," he whispered, "I won't let it. We'll wait to see what Renee and Lex come up with."

  But doubts rose in his mind. How could he protect her if the thing numbs him like it did? He agreed, it couldn't be Chad. It was something nasty, something so evil he didn't even want to consider it. A feeling of dread shook him. Ever since Chad died, nothing had been right in the house. The thing, whatever it was, probably fed on the violence within the house.

  There was continual bad blood between Jake and Lila, Karl's anger, Willie's troubles and Spence's difficulties with the law. Harv and Maria seemed to be immune to the evil, though.

  "I need to check on Willie," Meg said.

  "I'll walk you up," Spence replied.

  Once he was sure Meg was at Willie's bedside, he went downstairs to Maria's room. He knocked and she opened the door, while clutching her robe in front of her chest.

  "Si, Senor Spence?"

  "Can I talk with you for a minute, Maria?"

  "Si, si. Come in."

  Her room was simply adorned, with a large gold cross and several pictures of the Last Supper. A single bed in the corner was turned down.

  He sat on the only chair in the room while Maria sat on the bed. "Maria," he began, "did you ever see the light at night that Meg has seen?"

  Her lips pursed before she nodded. "Si, I have seen it."

  "Was that before or after Chad's death?"

  "Dios," she said softly, "I have always seen it."

  "Aren't you afraid of it?"

  "Nooo." She took a Bible off her nightstand. "I needed to guard the little ones. And serve The Lord my God only."

  "So you're saying that when you believed, the light went away?"

  She nodded. "Si, Senor."

  "Another Lila," he said under his breath. "Did it ever hurt you?"

  She was silent for a minute. "It was as if a burden," she pointed to her shoulders, "was here. Very heavy, for days. Then God...he took it away."

  "Okay Maria. Thanks, and have a good sleep." On impulse, he hugged the woman. She patted him on the back.

  But before Spence went upstairs, he headed for the barn. He knocked on Harv's door. The man answered wearing only jeans. "Oh, thought you was Miss Lila," he said, "she's 'bout the only one who comes out here. Come on in, Spence."

  The second story barn apartment was nicely furnished with two leather recliners, a leather sofa and a small kitchenette and bathroom.

  "So Harv," Spence grinned, "how's it hangin'?" They both sat in recliners.

  "Little to the left," Harv replied with a smile. "That reminds me, gotta call the wife tomorrow."

  "She taking you back?"

  "Almost got her talked into it. You know women. I'm still trying to find work. Problem is, everyone in town thinks I'm still a drunk. They don't want to take a chance. Give a guy a break, you know?"

  Spence nodded. "So Harv, let me ask you. When you came in the dining room just now, what did you see?"

  "Well," he said thoughtfully, "Miss Meg was making a noise and reaching for her throat. Thought she was choking on something. Forgot you had all the machinery in there. Sorry to interrupt."

  "No problem, Harv. So you've never seen anything out of the ordinary in the house?"

  "Not so far. Sure will let you know if I do, though. Like I said, may be moving out of here soon, if the wife cooperates."

  Spence laughed. "Just talk dirty to her, Harv. Women love that." And he chuckled again as he headed to the house.

  *****

  Maria had just finished her prayers when the man knocked on her door, then pushed his way inside her room.

  "Senor," she said, lifting her chin a bit, "What is it, then?"

  He said bitterly, "You know too much, old woman. I should have done this long ago."

  She saw he wore gloves, held a knife, and she began to panic. But he blocked her path to the doorway. "You can leave now," she said to him, "I will never tell."

  He smiled. "You've been listening in, Maria. You're too much of a snoop." He nodded towards The Bible. "That won't save you now."

  She took a deep breath, and knew her fate was sealed. She wasn't afraid. "Let us go, then. To the back and beyond. They do not need to see me..." her voice trailed off as she saw his knife. "El Diablo."

  He laughed and grabbed her arm.

  She managed a last look at her room. The cross. The pictures. And most of all, her Bible.

  "Dios," she whispered.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Meg woke with a start in the early morning hours. She felt Spence's hard body next to hers, but she was still anxious. She hugged him tightly, her front to his back.

  "What," he murmured, "once wasn't enough for you?"

  But she couldn't shake the dread. "Something is wrong, Spence. I can feel it."

  He turned to face her, and his hand came up to gently stroke her hair. "It's okay, I was awake anyway. What is it baby? Tell Spence."

  His eyes were warm and caring as her gaze flitted along the planes of his face.

  She said, "My mind is telling me to go downstairs. Something needs my attention. It's hard to explain."

  He smiled. "Okay, I'll help you, sweetheart. Let's go down and see what's what."

  Spence pulled on his jeans while she donned her robe and slippers.

  A minute later they were in the kitchen, with the light on.

  "It's so strong, Spence. Wait," she said while she walked along further, "Maria's light is on. She's never up this late."

  They arrived at Maria's bedroom doorway.

  "Where is she?" Meg asked hesitantly.

  "Went to the bathroom maybe?" Spence asked. "I'll check."

  He came back a minute later. "No luck there." He frowned. "Does she ever sleepwalk or have trouble sleeping?"

  "Not Maria. She's a very heavy sleeper. Says nothing wakes her up."
<
br />   "Okay, I'll check outside. You want to come with or are you all right to stay here?"

  "I'll come with you. There's a flashlight in the junk drawer over there."

  They moved to the back porch after finding the flashlight. Spence moved the light over all the furniture. "Nothing here. Does she ever go to the barn?"

  Meg shook her head.

  Moving down the stairs, Spence shined the light on dusty ground next to the porch. "Footprints," he said, "looks like one barefoot and one with boots on."

  Spence didn't like the looks of it. And Meg's face had gone pale. "Let me follow them," he said to her, "you go back in the house and lock the door."

  "No way," she answered, "I'll follow you."

  He paused for a minute, shining the flashlight. The prints led away from the house about twenty yards before Spence saw a pattern. It seemed as if the barefoot person had been in front of the booted one, maybe even pushed or dragged part of the way.

  "Hold my hand," he said to Meg, "and don't step on the footprints. We'll walk on the side here."

  They followed the prints past bushes on the right and over a slight knoll.

  "Oh, Jesus," Spence said as Meg gasped.

  Maria's body was crumpled face-up in the dust like a rag doll. Her throat was slashed ear to ear, and her eyes were wide open, staring up at the night sky. A burgundy stain was apparent under her neck and shoulders.

  He tried to block Meg's view, but was too late. She retched in the bushes while he held her by the shoulders.

  "We've got to go back, Meg. My phone is in the house."

  But she seemed not to hear him. She looked up briefly then passed out in his arms. He carried her back to a couch in the living room, locked the back door and ran up the stairs to get his phone.

  After calling in the emergency, he pounded on Jake's bedroom door. He told him about the murder, and headed back to check on Meg.

  But, as he ran down the upstairs hallway, the house began to shake up and down, buckling and groaning on its foundation.

  He remembered the large headboard in Willie's room, and ran in to hold it up before it crushed the boy.

  "What's going on?" Willie asked sleepily.