The Skinwalker Conspiracies - 02

by Jim Bernheimer

“There’s one about a mile away.”

  I turned to Cassandra and said, “We’ll do it there. That’s where you can tell De Soto that I’m meeting up with Strong Vincent and his ghosts.”

  “Fair enough, Ross. I’d better get out of here and catch a ride back to Texas. You’ll probably want to stash your body here and fight him without it. He’ll try to incapacitate you like he did last time.”

  “I don’t know if I want to leave my body behind.”

  “Have the holy man bless the house. It would only slow De Soto down, but it should stop most of his lackeys.”

  Nodding, I agreed with her logic. She was probably full of useful advice, along with several other things. “So what happens if I win?”

  “I’ll scoop up as much of his empire as possible. I’ll probably try to make a deal with your simpleton of a father. He’s nowhere near your abilities, but he’s more of the self-serving sort. He already makes a nice puppet for Hernando. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

  “You’re not even going to make me an offer? I’m hurt.” Whenever someone bad mouthed my mother, it lit a fire in my soul and I’d get pissed. I couldn’t even muster a glowing ember to come to “Pappy’s” defense.

  Cassandra laughed, stepped next to me, and bent down leaving an ethereal kiss on my cheek. Then she answered, “You’ve got too much of William and Edgar’s noble streak in you and I can see Virginia’s stamp all over you. The fact that you’re already suspicious of her puts you years ahead of poor Edgar, but you’re not jaded enough for me just yet. Good luck, Mike Ross. The world will be a better place without a certain conquistador in it.”

  As she left, I felt a little better. Of course, she could also be throwing some flattery my way for when she does try to ensnare me in some kind of web. At least the lesser of two evils was better looking. Shaking my head, I knew that I was being paranoid again. Hopefully, I’d live long enough to learn how to deal with my trust issues.

  With Cassandra’s departure, the only folks left in the house were of the living variety. Karla was holding Lucky in a protective manner.

  “I could see your friend Amos while that evil bitch was inside of me,” she said. “I finally saw a real ghost.”

  “Every paranormal investigator’s dream come true, huh?”

  “Har har, very funny,” she replied. “I already gave the dog some water and there was some luncheon meat in the fridge.”

  “What kind of pets do the people here have?” I asked after remembering that Karla was pet sitting.

  “Fish and Chinchillas. No dog food.”

  “Sounds like something you’d order off a menu,” I said through a yawn. My condition was catching up with me.

  When she didn’t say anything for a minute, I asked, “So what did Silas say to convince you to try and come rescue me.”

  “It was actually my idea,” she confessed and then yawned.

  “Really?”

  “Call it a lapse in judgment,” she answered. “Amos came back and was able to communicate that you’d lost. I tried to bluff my way into De Soto’s house, but we were caught at the front gate by his bodyguard. Looking back, it wasn’t one of my better plans.”

  “Thanks anyway,” I said standing up. “I’m about to drop off and need to get some rest. Which way is the nearest bed?”

  She pointed and said, “I’m going to stay up and watch some TV. G’night, Mike.”

  Walking away from her, I was somewhat humbled. She actually tried to rescue me! In this case, it really was the thought that counted. Maybe I wasn’t such a chump after all?

  Sleeping the whole next day away was an option, but I only made it until noon. Even so, waking up in a real bed and in my real body added up to something to be thankful for.

  After taking care of my bladder, I surveyed my situation. Without anything else to change into, my options were limited to the black slacks and the white dress shirt that Hernando so generously provided along with a pair of black dress shoes that weren’t terribly comfortable.

  The dresser had a mirror on it and the guy staring back at me looked like he was trying too hard to look good. A tiny and somewhat annoyed part of my mind wondered if De Soto had been doing a better job of running my life.

  Muttering a couple of not-so pleasant words under my breath, I plastered a smile on my face and went to face the first day of the rest of my life. When the door opened, Karla stood there with her fist cocked back about to knock on the door. From the expression on her face, I could tell something was wrong.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She paused, trying to find the right words, and then blurted out, “We’re on the local news.”

  My fake smile vanished. “Great,” I said with the knowledge that whatever it was, it wouldn’t end well.

  Thanks to the magic of Tivo, I could see what she was talking about. Next to an attractive midday anchorwoman was a rectangle filled with a fairly recent picture of my ugly mug, from my driver’s license.

  “ … and in local news, police are on the lookout for this man, Mike Ross from Gaithersburg, Maryland. He is considered a person of interest in the disappearance of Karla Thompson, age twenty-nine. She was last seen two days ago at the midtown fitness club where she is employed as a personal trainer. Coworkers say that she left early that day after an encounter with Mr. Ross upset her.”

  The pictured changed to show a smiling Karla probably from the club’s website.

  “Ms. Thompson is also known from a cable television ghost investigation show that enjoyed success on the east coast. Police have already searched her residence and found several items belonging to Mr. Ross and the elderly, blind African American male he is traveling with, but are not releasing any further details at this time.”

  The scene cut away to that nasty piece of work who called the cops to the fitness center and made Karla fill out a report. If you ask me, she seemed to enjoy being on camera a little too much. The story mercifully ended with a crime spotter’s number and my face next to it.

  Karla was about to cut it off, but I stopped her. The next story panned out to both anchors as they spoke about the mysterious lights and power outages that occurred in the predawn hours over portions of the city. Since this happened after my fight with De Soto and I was now a person of interest in a crime, it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together and come up with Oswald getting beaten … probably for good this time.

  On one hand, I was slightly disappointed, but on the other it was like, “Good riddance!” Everyone always jokes about the phrase, “The Lesser of Two Evils,” but after experiencing it firsthand, I’d never look at it the same way again.

  Exhaling the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, I said, “Well that didn’t take long.”

  “What do we do now?” The woman I was under suspicion of abducting asked.

  “De Soto is hedging his bets,” I answered. “He still wants my body, so he’s trying to get to police to capture me, but he won’t implicate me for a serious crime or anything. That’s probably good news for you. You’ll just have to play ball if we lose.”

  “What happens to you and Silas?” She asked, not really calmed by my assessment.

  “Our prospects aren’t quite as sunny, my dear.” Silas volunteered. “However, if we win, we simply show up with smiles on our faces saying we left town to go sightseeing.”

  “I guess that means we’d better make certain we win,” I said to no one in particular.

  Silas chuckled and coughed to clear his throat before continuing, “I think for now, we just sit tight and follow the plan. I don’t really have the tools to properly bless this house, but I should be able to make do. For me, it’s always been more about the faith behind the ritual than the objects anyway.”

  Karla smiled and added, “I can help. We did a few house blessings when I was with the Eye of Horus.”

  She sounded eager to be useful and I was willing to bet that Karla worried she’d be relegated to making lunch or watching t
he dog.

  Realizing that I should actually be doing something as well, I said, “I’ll … I’ll look around and see what kind of iron is in the house and pull out some phantoms of that sword and those spears on the wall.”

  “Can you do it to a Glock?”

  I arched an eyebrow at Karla, who added, “Doctor McGill likes to shoot and has a couple in the master bedroom.”

  “No. The bullets won’t fire. Something like a bow and arrow would work, you know, simple machines. Then again, maybe it would if I tried to use it outside of my body. What the hell? Let’s give it a try!”

  Karla left to go get the gun and Silas asked if I really thought that would work while I surveyed the sheathed broadsword.

  “Probably not, but if I have it, it might make De Soto think twice. Sorry I got you all messed up in this.”

  The apology felt lame, but I needed to say it anyway.

  “This is life, Mike,” he replied as I stepped on the couch and gripped the end of the sword. With a slow and unfortunately draining pull, the blade came free. I’d been hoping that it would be easier, but it wasn’t.

  Stepping backward and off the couch, I gathered my wits while Silas finished his thought. “We’ve got to live it and do our best each day to make the world a better place. For some folks, it means volunteering at a food bank or being kind to those less fortunate than they are. You and me … well our paths just a bit harder than most.”

  “Understatement of the year,” I quipped.

  His gravelly laugh answered my sarcasm, “Oh now don’t get me wrong, I get a thrill out of mentoring troubled kids and trying to help them make their way through life, and I can’t wait to take a break from all of this and tend to people with more common problems.”

  He had a point, my problems were about as far from normal as you could get. “Yeah, let me just take care of this pesky little ghost problem and we can blow this hot dog stand.”

  “The Spaniard thought he could shake my faith with his skepticism. Truth be told, it only reaffirmed my faith in the Almighty. You’re doing His work, Mike. Never forget that. Carry that in your heart when times are difficult and soldier onward.”

  “I suppose he’ll forgive me if I gloat a little when I finish that bastard.”

  “Normally, I’d advise being humble, but in this case I think I’ll let you make the call.”

  With a dramatic flair, I lifted the ethereal sword and said in a cheesy Spanish accent, “I’ll go up to him and say, ‘Hello, my name is Michael Ross. Fifteen years ago, you stole my father. Prepare to die!’ Think that’d go over well?”

  Sadly, Silas didn’t get The Princess Bride reference, but I heard Karla’s throaty laughter as she came down the steps. “I always loved that movie,” she said. “You should totally do that.”

  When she entered the room, my attention was immediately drawn to the Glock in her hand. Call it a holdover from my Army days, but the sight of a gun in someone else’s hands when I didn’t have one, always made me nervous. Karla looked very comfortable carrying the pistol and I recalled her mentioning that she went hunting with her father.

  “Set it down on the table and I’ll get to it in a couple of minutes. I want to get the sheath for this sword first. Do you shoot much?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Does that surprise you?”

  “A little, I guess.”

  “This is Arizona. You should be more surprised when you find someone who doesn’t shoot. Were you a good shot in the Army?”

  “I’m no sniper, but I was decent. I preferred machine guns to be honest. Most of the time in Iraq, I was the vehicle gunner.”

  There was one notable exception to that statement, but I had no desire to go into that day. No sense in dredging up the past. There was too much to do to worry about the worst day of my pre-Ferryman life, like trying to avoid another day that would top it.

  Much later, I stripped down to my boxers and sprawled onto the guest bed I’d claimed. My broadsword had a sheath and I had a pair of spears to round out my ensemble. The Glock image didn’t fire, but by that point, I’d been too beat to try and step out of my body and try it in my ghost form. Karla called it Astral Projection, but that just seemed a little too wordy. I still liked my “stepping out” term.

  More than half asleep, I barely heard the door open. Turning my head on the pillow, I looked at the person framed in the dimly lit hallway. It was Karla, in a man’s t-shirt.

  “Can I come in?” she asked. Apparently, I can go from almost asleep to wide awake in four syllables.

  “Sure,” I said, sliding over from the center of the bed and making room for her.

  She moved hesitantly across the carpet. It wasn’t one of those scenes where the girl floats through the room. The uncertainty added a layer of innocence to it.

  Karla climbed into bed next to me and we stared at each other in silence for a moment.

  “Are you okay?” I asked trying to break the ice. My recent experiences hadn’t exactly prepared me for this. My time with Candy had been a comedy of errors. Other than that, there was only the ghost of Tabitha Lawrence that had turned my heart into a jackhammer. Both Candy and Tabby were the fun and flirtatious type who you’d want to dance the night away with. Karla? She could certainly pull it off, but when it came down to it, she was a girl next door - a sweetheart kind of woman that you’d curl up with on a couch and watch television or read a book with. Despite the fact she was five years older than me; she seemed younger and more vulnerable. It was a whole new level of “hot” that I’d never really encountered before.

  “I didn’t want to be alone,” she said, hugging her knees to her chest.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t try anything.” Every fiber in my being said to try and take advantage of the situation, but I fought it back while cursing Silas and his morals all the way. It had to be him. It sure as hell wasn’t because I was growing up or anything like that.

  She smiled. “What if we just hold each other for a little while and see what happens?”

  “I can do that.” The air conditioning might be on, but it felt pretty warm in here all of the sudden. I’d been on my stomach, but I rolled onto my back and adjusted the pillow. She settled in next to me and placed her head on my left shoulder and my hand came to rest on her hip.

  Moving my nose and face through her hair, I nuzzled while she sighed. Mostly, I was thankful that I’d showered before coming to bed. Obviously she had as well. Her hair smelled like she’d used a vanilla scented shampoo.

  “I haven’t had a boyfriend since Darren. I haven’t even gone on a date,” she confessed. “It’s been a long time.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I said.

  She giggled. “You and Darren? I never knew.”

  “You know what I mean,” I replied to her teasing. “I dated this one girl a few months ago, but it wasn’t going anywhere and she broke it off as soon as she saw how dangerous my life could be.”

  “Really?” Karla moved her head back so she could look at me.

  “Yeah.” I thought about adding how Cassandra had possessed her too, but even I knew enough not to talk about other women at a time like this.

  “That’s so sad. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Why? You shouldn’t have to do this alone.” Her words seemed more like an offer than said out of pity.

  If my heart beat any faster, I’d be in trouble without my nitro pill. I mustered what courage I could scrounge and everything I’d learned from the brief time I’d channeled Paul Lawrence. “Because if I was still with her, I’d feel too guilty to do this.”

  Leaning in our lips touched and I felt more alive than I’d been in years. Karla responded with enthusiasm. She had her own reasons for being in this place at this moment, and I’d like to think I was one of them. Unlike my former girlfriend, Karla Thompson knew all too well the danger surrounding me and she didn’t run for the hills. That fact wasn’t lost on me, but there was a nagging feeling that Karla might be thinking
about Darren.

  Still, it was difficult to continue stringing together coherent thoughts and wondering about her motives. There’d be plenty of time for that later. Silas always said I should “worry less and enjoy more.” Pretty good advice from a wise man, if my opinion counted for anything. For the moment, someone was in my arms and the world didn’t seem as lonely.

  Episode 28: A Life Worth Living

  In a half-conscious daze, I’d watched the sunrise through the glow of the shade from my position in the queen sized bed. The lovely shape of Karla Thompson nestled next to me with only a thin sheet covering us. We fit together rather nicely. Despite the fact that I should be sleeping or at the very least trying to rest, I was awake with a mind racing over all the uncertainties in my immediate future.