by E. C. Bell
I turned to Parkerson. “Sit over there,” I said, pointing at her couch. “And be quiet, please.”
As the doctor did what she was told, I watched Phillipa stalk her, like a lion after its prey.
“Phillipa,” I said, hoping to draw her away. “She’s doing what you asked. Let’s talk now, ok?”
“I guess,” she said. “After all, she’s not going anywhere, now is she?”
She walked over to me and I looked for any sign of weakness. Anything at all that I could use to convince her that this was a very bad thing for her to do.
Did she look less vibrant than she had when we first came into the office? I couldn’t be absolutely sure. But maybe she was a little less bright. Maybe.
“What do you want to talk about?” she asked.
“This isn’t the way you should be dealing with the doctor,” I said.
“I told her what happened to me,” she said, and touched the bedsheet wrapped around her neck. “Before this. I think she needs to pay for her sins. Don’t you?”
“But you’re hurting her,” I said. “You said you were afraid you’d go to hell, before. Remember?”
“It’s because I killed myself,” she yelled. “What I’m doing now isn’t bad. It’s good. You understand?”
I didn’t answer, but she didn’t seem to care.
“Making all of them pay for what they did to me is more important than me trying to get to a better place after this anyhow. And I still have lots of work to do here. After all, the doctor’s not the only one who knew what was going on. What that man was doing to me—to others. I think they all need to pay. We can talk about where I’m going after that.”
“But I won’t be here forever,” I said. “And neither will you. I can’t say when, but one day you’ll leave this plane, prepared or not. And if you’re not prepared, you’ll go to your form of hell.”
She flexed her arms and smiled. “I feel strong,” she said. “Stronger than I ever have before. Even when I was alive. I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. I think I’ll be able to go on like this forever.”
“No,” I said. “That’s not the way it works. You’ll slow down, and eventually, you’ll stop. You’ll disappear from this plane. And then—”
“I’ll go to hell.” She snorted. “I still can’t figure out why I didn’t go there when I first died.”
“You weren’t ready,” I said. “But I can help you. Talk you through it, so you don’t end up there now. If you want. But you have to quit hurting people, Phillipa. You have to.”
She was dimmer. Definitely. If I could just keep her talking, her power could get so low that she’d finally disappear. Go somewhere else to recharge, and maybe give me a chance to get the doctor to safety.
And then, Jasper opened his big mouth.
“She’s losing her colour,” he said in a loud whisper which both Phillipa and I could hear. “Can you see that?”
I wanted to scream at him to shut up. She needed to wear herself down completely so we’d have some time while she recharged, but Phillipa glanced down at her hands, and then shrugged.
“Looks like good old Jasper’s right,” she said. “I need to rest up a bit. Tell the doctor I’ll catch her later.” Then she disappeared.
“Thank goodness,” Jasper said.
“She’s not finished with Dr. Parkerson,” I said. “She’ll be back.” Probably much sooner than I would have liked.
“This is my fault,” Jasper said. “I taught her how to do all this. And when she said she was going after Dr. Parkerson, I went along with her.”
I frowned. “Franklin told me you didn’t want to haunt her. What happened?”
“She needed to learn a lesson.” He pointed at the doctor. “I didn’t want this, though.”
“You saw what Phillipa did to Rafferty,” I said. “What did you think was going to happen here?”
“I—I don’t know," he said. “I just wanted her to pay for locking me up here and never letting me out. But I didn’t think it would go this far . . .”
Parkerson whimpered from her spot on the couch.
“We can discuss this later,” I said to Jasper. “I need you to listen to me. I think that Nurse Melodie is probably the one who’s been killing people here. She uses a pink pill. We’ve got to find her. Understand?”
He nodded, looking miserable.
“Good,” I said. “But first, I have to take care of the doctor.”
I walked over to her. “Can you stand?” I asked. I imagined she felt just about as bad as she looked, and she looked terrible. She shook her head, and snivelled.
“I don’t understand what just happened,” she said. “I could feel fingers in my hair. Hands, slamming my head down on my desk . . . But there was no one there.”
“You met your first poltergeist,” I replied. “And if I can’t figure out a way to stop her, she’ll be back.”
“Poltergeists aren’t real,” Parkerson muttered.
Good grief.
“Think what you want,” I said. “But maybe have a look in a mirror, because that unreal poltergeist broke your nose and blackened both your eyes. And she has to be stopped.”
Parkerson could work through her issues on her own time. I had work to do. I had to come up with a plan that could actually work against a poltergeist. Because I was afraid that Phillipa wouldn’t stop at the beatings. Eventually, she was going to kill someone, and that death would be my fault.
But first, we had to find Nurse Melodie.
“Jasper,” I said. “Let’s go find her.”
He didn’t answer, and when I looked around, he was gone. Then the orderly who’d escaped burst into the office with three of his biggest friends, and they took me down quickly and efficiently. I didn’t stand a chance.
“Let her go,” Parkerson said, weakly, after they roughed me up for a while. “She didn’t do this to me.”
They let me up, reluctantly, and I pushed them away from me. “She needs to go to the infirmary,” I said, pointing at Parkerson.
“I called for an ambulance,” the orderly said, to Parkerson. Not me. “You were having a seizure, Doctor. You need to go to the hospital.”
“That wasn’t a seizure,” Parkerson said. “I can’t explain what happened, but it was definitely not a seizure.”
“I’m going to find another job after this,” he muttered. “I swear. They’re not paying me enough for all this crap.” He pointed at me. “It’s time for you to go back to your room, now.”
I was about to argue with him, when Parkerson spoke up. “She stays,” she said. “Just leave her alone. She stays with me.”
Looked like the good doctor wanted a little protection even if she didn’t yet believe in ghosts.
I stayed until the ambulance came. I honestly thought the doctor would want to talk through what had just happened to her, but she didn’t say a word. Just let me clean up some of the blood and then help her off the couch. After the ambulance arrived, and she was strapped to a gurney, I walked her to the elevator, to make sure she was still safe. No Phillipa, which felt like a break. Then I noticed there were no ghosts anywhere, and that surprised me. There was usually one or two wandering the halls at the very least.
I wondered if word had gotten out about Phillipa attacking two people. I had a small but hugely frightening walking nightmare as I imagined all the ghosts going to Phillipa, demanding to learn to do what she was now capable of. And her teaching them all.
“We need to talk,” Parkerson said from the gurney as she was wheeled into the elevator. “About what is going on in here.”
“Sure,” I said. “When you get back.”
The elevator doors closed and I walked away. Down the hallway to my room. All on my own, for the first time since I’d been there.
Looked like things had changed, after all.
Jasper:
Franklin and Phillipa
I SHOULD HAVE been happy to hear that Marie had figured out who had been kil
ling patients, but I wasn’t. What Phillipa had done to the doctor was terrible, and it felt like it was all my fault. I’d just wanted her to apologize to me for what she’d done, but that wasn’t what Phillipa wanted. She wanted blood, and lots of it.
I couldn’t look at Dr. Parkerson’s smashed face anymore and snuck out of her office. I needed to talk to someone. Get someone to help me figure out what I should do to make this all better.
I hoped that Franklin was around. He’d been helpful before, maybe he’d be able to again. So, I went to Building One to talk to him.
He was standing at his usual place by the window, looking out at the sky. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him though, because it appeared that group was about to start.
“Jasper,” Miranda said, as I appeared in the room. “You’re just in time.”
Phillipa wasn’t there, but I hadn’t expected her to be. She was running her own deal now, and it looked like she wasn’t going to be sharing with us any time soon. However, Miranda had jumped into the breach, and looked pretty happy to finally be running things.
“I’m just here to talk to Franklin,” I said, and walked over to him, stepping into his aura to get his attention. He stiffened, and then looked over at me and smiled.
“Nice to see you, Jasper. Been keeping out of trouble?’
“Not really,” I said. “I did a stupid thing, Franklin, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
He frowned. “What did you do?”
“It wasn’t me, exactly,” I said. “But—”
“Phillipa.” Miranda’s voice rang out flatly behind us. “So glad you could finally join us.”
I glanced at the entrance, and there was Phillipa, looking fierce and bright.
“Oh God,” I whispered.
“What did you say?” Franklin asked. He hadn’t turned yet. Hadn’t seen Phillipa. I needed to tell him what had happened, without her knowing. Maybe he could come up with something—a way to stop her from hurting anybody else.
Franklin, I signed. I am in trouble.
He watched my hands, then frowned at me.
Sign, I signed. Phillipa is here. She hurt people. We have to stop her.
How? he signed back.
I shrugged, because I had no idea.
I will talk to her, he signed
No. She is dangerous. My fingers ached, and I was pretty sure I spelled most of the words wrong, but Franklin was able to follow what I was trying to tell him.
It might, he signed. He turned away from me and walked over to the circle of ghosts.
“Phillipa,” he said. “You’re back.”
“That I am, old man,” she said. “And I’ve learned some wonderful tricks. I’m going to teach all of you, so we can take this place over for ourselves. Finally.”
“I don’t think you are,” Franklin said. He sounded strong, sure of himself. “That’s not what any of us need.”
“Like you know what we need, old man,” she snapped. “You just stand and stare out the window—” She gestured, and then she saw me, cowering behind him.
“Well, Jasper. Nice to see you,” she said. “We’ve had some fun now haven’t we?”
I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say to her, how to stop her without making her angry at me, and I looked to Franklin. “Make her stop,” I said. “You promised me you’d make her stop.”
“Oh.” Phillipa snorted. “Really? You’re going to stop me, old man?”
“I’ll do my best,” he said. He hitched up his pants like a gun slinger in a Western and took a step toward her. “I think it’s time, Phillipa. Before you hurt anybody else.”
“And I think it’s time for you to get the hell off my back,” she replied. She ran at him, screaming, and before he could move, she was on him.
Her fingers were like talons, ripping and tearing at his light until it scattered to the four winds and all that was left of him was a screaming shadow.
When she stepped away from him, he fell to the floor, and then disappeared through it. She looked at us all and smiled. “Who’s next?” she asked.
Not one of us moved.
“Good,” she said. “So, let’s have group, shall we? And I’ll explain exactly how this is going to roll out.”
SHE KEPT US there for hours. Hours. She said we all had to practice moving things on the living side, so we did, because none of us wanted her to tear any more of us apart. One by one we flickered and disappeared as we used the last of our power. Phillipa laughed every time it happened.
“Don’t worry,” she said to the few of us who remained. “You’ll get more power. You just have to tap into your rage.”
But there wasn’t one of us who had a speck of rage in us. We were all too scared to be able to tap into anything but fear.
There were only two ghosts left when I finally decided to make my break for it. I slid down through the floor as Phillipa screamed at Miranda.
“If you’d just eaten more, you’d have the strength for this!”
I dropped down into the basement and landed by Franklin, who was still only a tattered shadow on the cement floor.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
His shadow fingers moved, and I realized he was signing. Marie, he signed. I need Marie.
“Just hang on,” I replied. “I’ll get her, right now. She can save us. She can save us all.”
He didn’t answer me. Didn’t move his hands. Didn’t react at all. I couldn’t tell whether it was because he had his eyes closed and he hadn’t seen what I’d said, or because he was so far gone he couldn’t respond to me anymore. I scrabbled away from him, and out through the wall. Then I was in the open, and I ran for Building Thirteen. I needed Marie, right now.
We all did.
SHE WAS IN one of the back hallways, rattling the doorknob of each office. If it was unlocked, she threw the door open and glanced inside.
“I need your help,” I cried. “Now!"
“Jesus!” she yelled, her eyes wild. Then she really looked at me and frowned. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Did you go looking for Melodie yourself? I told you we’d handle it together.”
“I wasn’t looking for Nurse Melodie,” I said. “I was looking for—looking for—” I shook my head, and felt tears burn my eyes. Dammit, why couldn’t I man up and just tell her what was going on?
Because it was all my fault. I’d started this whole thing, by picking up that damned pencil.
“It’s Phillipa,” I finally managed to blurt out. “She—she hurt Franklin.”
“Who?” she asked. Then she stopped and stared at me. “Do you mean the deaf ghost?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “She cut him up something terrible. He’s just a shadow now.” I sobbed. “He’s just a shadow, Marie. And Phillipa is making everybody else learn to manipulate things in the living world.”
“Tell me everything,” she said. “Now.”
I explained what had happened, as well as I was able. How she’d ripped and tore at him, and how he fell through the floor like he didn’t have enough power left to keep himself with the rest of us. “He might be dead,” I said. Then I really thought about what I’d said. “She can’t kill us, can she?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Marie said absently. She grabbed her house coat and pulled it on and headed for the door. “Stay here until I get back,” she said.
“Where are you going?” I asked. I was afraid to stay there alone—afraid that Phillipa would figure out that I hadn’t simply disappeared like the rest of the spirits, but had slipped away. She’d know that the first place I’d go would be to Marie and I wasn’t strong enough to face her by myself.
“I have to talk to my dad,” Marie said.
“Your dad? I thought your mom taught you all about ghosts.”
“My mother’s dead and gone,” she said shortly. “Dad’s all I have. With any luck, he can remember some of the stuff Mom did. I’m hoping he watched her deal with out of control poltergeists and can give
me a few pointers.”
“You can’t be serious!” I cried. “She’s going to tear us all apart, and you don’t know what to do?”
“Calm down,” she said. “Just stay here while I talk to my dad. He’ll come up with something. I’m almost sure of it.”
All I wanted to do was run around in a tight little circle and cry like a girl, but it would have done no good. Just like hanging around here, waiting for Marie to come back would do no good. So, I said, “Will do,” and the instant she was gone, I left.
No matter what Marie said, this was all my fault. I couldn’t stop Phillipa, but there was one thing I could do. I could find Nurse Melodie and her poison.
“If I can’t help the dead, maybe I can help the living,” I said. To no one, of course. Because all the dead who’re able were back at Building One, learning to be monsters.
“One step at a time,” I muttered. “I’m going to find Nurse Melodie, first.”
Marie:
Talking to My Dad, Once More with Feeling
“DON’T BOTHER WITH your father,” the voice that was not my mother’s whispered. “He knows nothing.”
“Screw you,” I said to the voice. “He knows a lot, and he’ll be able to help me.” I hoped.
I had to talk to Dad, which meant I had to convince whoever was manning the nurse’s station to let me make a phone call.
That was one thing I hadn’t thought to ask Parkerson for. My phone. I ran down the hallway and didn’t know whether it was good or not that Nurse Willoughby was sitting there, drinking a coffee and reading a magazine.
It was the same magazine Jasmine had been reading when she came to get me out of this place with James, and when I saw it, I nearly burst into tears. But I sucked it up and walked up to her.
“Nurse Willoughby,” I said. “I need to make a phone call.”
“Phone time is from two to four,” she said without looking up. “Come back then.”
“Come on!” I cried. “I really need his help. It’ll just take a minute. I promise.”
She put down the magazine and looked at me. When she saw who I was, her face changed. “It’s you,” she said. “I saw Dr. Parkerson.”