by Jim Johnson
I sighed. “Not to mention the cops and fire fighters and whoever else showed up after the ‘geists were dead and after our big battle to take them down.”
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “But it seems like we’re not in immediate danger.”
I frowned and shot a look toward Bonita and to Charity. “I guess not, though that doesn’t mean there aren’t plans in process.”
Malcolm said, “I always assume there are plans somewhere. I figured we’d see the Spinner again.” He glanced at Bonita and then back to me again. “I don’t know about you, but I wanna get you home and then go home myself, and sleep for a day or two. See if any of this hashes itself out by then.”
“What about Carlos?”
Malcolm shook his head. “I hate that he died, but I’m not gonna flip about it. Cops got him now. Too dangerous for us to check in. I’m mad as hell and I think we should figure out how to get back at the Spinner for what he did.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Attack the Spinner? The guy sends two ‘geists at us and we almost get whacked. I don’t know if we’re ready for another direct attack on him.”
He sighed. “Well, I can’t think it through now. I’m bone tired. Okay to head home?”
I sighed and then glanced at Bonita. “Okay if we call it a night?”
She stood up and smiled. “Of course, chica. My store is open to you all the time.” She moved over to me and gave me a warm hug. She moved to Malcolm and did likewise. “Get some rest, you two. Looks like you could both use it.”
I gave her a tired grin in response, and then gathered up my things and headed for the back door. Malcolm fell into step with me.
As we walked out of the store and toward his parked Mustang, he held out his hands to me. “Keys?”
I shot him a tired smile. “Thought you might have forgotten.”
Chapter Sixteen
WITH UNRESTRAINED JOY, THE SPINNER REACHED out through the ley threads and shut off the last conduit connection from the DC metro ley grid to the collected pool of energies he had created for himself months ago during his recovery.
He was ready. After months of work and setbacks thanks to Rachel and her allies, his new etheric avatar was ready to be unleashed.
He focused his will and gathered the etheric reins of the new avatar, and gingerly pushed his consciousness into the construct. He imagined himself to be a new age astronaut suiting up into an impenetrable etheric suit that would protect, sustain, and strengthen him all in one.
He adjusted his etheric form within the new construct, adjusting the internal threads and plugging them into etheric receptacles he had forged into his own natural etheric form at some cost to himself. He had no blueprint to work from, no manual of instruction, no mentor to guide his way. All he had was his own will, creativity, and drive to create an unstoppable juggernaut that he could then use to lay waste to whatever he desired and to conquer anything he wanted.
He flexed his new etheric forms and couldn’t, wouldn’t, resist the broad smile that stretched across his etheric face, mirrored by the one on his physical body tied down to its bed.
He grabbed the edges of the etheric pool and pushed himself up and out, shifting his powerful new legs to get under his body and finally lift himself up and out of the ley pool.
Freeing himself from the ley pool in which he had rarely left in the last two months sent shivers through his essence, as if he had just lifted himself out of a warm pool of water and out into the frigid air. It was a bracing feeling, and just a little uncomfortable.
But no matter. He shifted the ley currents contained within his constructed form and adjusted the internal temperature to something more comfortable to his essence.
That done, he stretched his new arms up over his head as far as he could, and luxuriated in the feeling of a new body under his control. His old broken body had never felt this solid, this free.
The Spinner raised his head to the sky and let out a cry of utter joy and triumph. “Never. Never again will I leave the Holding and return to my broken body.” He flexed his arms and shook them at the sky. “This is my world, my realm, and no one shall ever take that away from me.”
He pulled the etheric plug from the building he had commandeered within the Holding so many years ago, and watched the place grow dark and quiet, as he had first found it.
He was surprised to feel a pang of sadness as the building’s last vestiges of blue etheric current flickered out and then faded into nothingness. The house had served him well, and he took a moment to silently thank the building for its service.
“Corny, perhaps, but this is my world.” He glanced around the etheric neighborhood of the Holding near his old home, recalling the map of the real-world DC metro area and where his present location within the Holding compared to it.
He was somewhat north of Georgetown, in an affluent neighborhood of large houses and fancy SUVs and automobiles. The National Cathedral, his new target of interest, was a mile or two to the northeast.
He started walking that way within the Holding, curious to see what the Cathedral’s etheric shadow might look like.
As he walked, he reached out with his new arms and gathered up several ley threads and plugged them into his new avatar, calling up a connection to the two ‘geists he had unleashed upon the city in an effort to hunt down and aggravate Rachel and Malcolm.
A quick scan brought no results, so he tried a wider scan, this time reaching out to some of the weaker scout ‘geists he had created, twisted souls taking the form of birds, squirrels, and the like. They would be totally unnoticed by anyone save someone versed in the ley, and he was confident even Rachel and Malcolm weren’t sensitive enough or trained enough to be able to detect them.
The scan still brought him no results. He found the etheric shadow of a bench and sat down, and opened his senses to the fullest and pulled in even more etheric power, sensing the built-in reservoirs within the avatar charging up, as if he were wearing an etheric mech suit.
A long, quiet period of scanning the city proper revealed what he assumed to be true—the two ‘geists were gone, destroyed by Rachel and Malcolm. A pity. He had worked for some time to capture good candidate souls for his use, and bending them to his will and then reshaping them for hunting use had taken some time and a toll on his abilities.
And yet, they had served their purpose. He plugged in his consciousness to a pair of scout ‘geists who had witnessed the entire battle the two ‘geists had waged against Rachel and Malcolm, and settled in to watch the scene unfold.
He watched it straight through twice, simply watching and observing. The two ‘geists had performed brilliantly. He was rather pleased with himself—they had caused more damage than he had even optimistically assumed they would. One confirmed kill, significant damage to a neighborhood and several vehicles, minor injuries to several locals, and most importantly, injuries to both Rachel and Malcolm. Neither serious enough to knock them out of action, but certainly sufficient to put them on notice that not only was he back, but he was back with a vengeance.
He rewatched the battle a few more times, rewinding and rewatching much as one might replay a sporting event. He focused first on Rachel and her abilities, and in spite of his disdain for her, had to admit he was impressed.
Her shielding techniques had grown by leaps and bounds in the last few months, and while her offensive capabilities hadn’t grown in comparison, she was growing into a most effective ley practitioner, much as he suspected she would when he had first encountered her.
But, as he watched, he saw her fatal flaw. Her compassion for others would be her downfall. She just could not leave someone behind to be injured or killed, and she had developed an annoying tendency to finish every fight she found herself in.
He then rewound the event and watched again, this time focusing on Malcolm and his abilities. As much as he’d like to sneer at the boy’s lack of discipline and sloppy demeanor, he had to admit the boy had come a long way. His con
trol over the etherics had improved significantly. The Spinner suspected the boy was training both with Rachel and with Rachel’s mentor.
It was clear from the way Malcolm gathered, focused, and loosed the energies under his control that he had a much stronger grasp of the ley threads and how they operated. That plus his tendency to lash out made him both powerful and unpredictable. The Spinner saw a little of himself in Malcolm, which both amused and infuriated him.
After watching the recording once more good measure, he released the scout ‘geists so that they could continue their work, then resumed his walk to the Holding’s version of the National Cathedral.
The massive structure, located in the center of a large section of land set amidst a wide variety of buildings, shone out within the etherics like a lighthouse. The structure had taken decades to construct, and even now was undergoing significant repairs following the 2011 earthquake that had struck the DC metro area. The repairs were expensive to complete, and it was possible the cathedral would be under repairs for a very long time.
The Spinner moved closer to the glowing form of the cathedral, looking up and up some more at the spires reaching up toward the etheric sky. He reached a ley thread toward the closest tower and touched the energy grid laced throughout the cathedral.
The architects of the cathedral had known of or had connections with someone who knew of the ley grid. The whole building was plugged directly into the ley grid, much as he himself had been plugged into it, though the cathedral builders had done it without the subterfuge he had been forced to use.
Most of the major monuments in the city were likewise plugged into the ley grid, including the White House, Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial. Some were simply connected and used as large storage units for ley energy, batteries essentially, while others were more significant nexuses of power, such as the cathedral. There was so much power centered in the cathedral that someone with a true understanding of the ley grid and the etherics could, in theory, plug into that nexus and harness unimaginable power.
He intended to be the first to harness that power, to take control of the cathedral and its presence in the ley grid. From the cathedral, he would be able to access and influence the ley grid to a level he had never managed before.
Taking control of that nursing home had been one small exercise in the effort. The cathedral would be a much more massive undertaking, one he was eager to begin.
However. There were two matters he needed to tend to first, namely Rachel and Malcolm. The two had proven to be resourceful problems for him to deal with, and the time had come to end their involvement in his bid for power.
Sending ‘geists to take them down had failed, so he would have to find another means to engage them. As he shifted his ley threads to more closely examine the etheric structure of the cathedral, he considered how best to capture Rachel and Malcolm.
Another attack on the nursing home was out of the question. He had observed the structure for some time recently through his scout ‘geists and had determined that the place was under close scrutiny by a cadre of ley practitioners he had never encountered before. They weren’t Weavers, that much he was certain of, but even after close examination by his ‘geists, he was unable to determine who they might be. And he had lost several ‘geists in an attempt to discover who they were.
He considered an attack on the little shop Rachel had set up a working space in, but felt that it wasn’t meaningful enough to her to bother with.
No, the more he thought about it, the more he centered on the idea that the most effective place to hurt Rachel, the one place she was guaranteed to mourn over if she lost it, was her home—the old house she shared with several other people, including her girlfriend.
Yes. He grinned to himself, and then pulled back all the threads connecting him to the cathedral. Unlocking its secrets would take time, and he wanted to focus on destroying Rachel’s world first.
He reached out a hand and forced the ley threads into a scythe shape and sliced open a rift in the Veil, an electric blue rent bordered in his signature yellow-gold aura.
He maneuvered his avatar into the Veil, and left the Holding, and stepped out into the backyard of Rachel’s home. He collapsed the Veil with a wave of his hand and a tweaking of the etherics, and then moved toward the back door of the house, gleeful malice at the top of his mind.
Chapter Seventeen
MALCOLM PULLED OUT OF BONITA’S ALLEYWAY and started toward my house. I rested a hand on his arm. “Hang on, Malcolm. Pull over for a second.”
He shot me a confused look, but obliged me by pulling into one of the many parking spots lining Mount Vernon Avenue. He shifted into ‘Park’ and then gave me an expectant look.
I opened my mouth, closed it, then sighed. “I’m not sure why I asked you to stop, exactly, other than to say that I don’t know what our next step should be.”
I glanced out the window, but realized I was stalling. I focused on him once more. “The Spinner seems to have decided to step up his efforts to kill us. He failed, but I doubt he’s going to stop at just one attempt.”
Malcolm nodded. “Yeah, he doesn’t seem the type to give up until he gets what he wants.”
“Right. Which is why I think we should go to Branchwood.”
“Branchwood?” He stared into my eyes. “You mean, like, right now?”
“Yes. I don’t think we can afford to wait. If he’s truly gunning for us, then it’s possible he’ll try to strike out at places he knows we’ve been. He controlled Branchwood once before, and he knows we have family connections there.”
“But…man. You really think he’d go back there after the beat-down we gave him?”
I sighed. “A beat-down that hurt us too, and caused significant damage to the Veil. Remember, some of the residents died that night too.”
The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was the right call. “Malcolm, I really think we should head to Branchwood.”
We stared at each other in the sudden awkward silence. Our faces were lit by the streetlight outside and the soft red glow of the dashboard. Ludacris was warbling out the sound system telling us to ‘get back’.
After a few moments where I realized I was holding my breath, Malcolm sighed and then shifted into first gear and got us underway again.
He muttered, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I stared out the window as buildings and cars passed by outside. “Me too.”
We didn’t say much more during the short drive to Branchwood. Malcolm spent most of his time brooding while I focused on shoring up my etheric reserves and reaching out some tentative ley threads toward Branchwood, in an attempt to determine if the Spinner had gotten there before us.
I frowned, not liking the results I was getting. I shifted my focus to the connection I shared with Charity through the ley.
“Charity, I’m having a problem scanning Branchwood with my talents. Any idea what it might be? If I had to name what I’m sensing, I’d call it static.”
Charity’s presence manifested within my mind’s eye. I’ve sensed it too. Once I figured out where you and Malcolm were headed when you didn’t come home right away, I pushed ahead and scanned the area around Branchwood.
“What did you find?”
Uncertain. The building and its residents are certainly intact and safe, but there is a…blurring effect within the ley that I’m having some trouble penetrating.
I frowned. “The Spinner?”
Charity’s etheric form shook her head. Possibly, though it doesn’t feel like his work. He’s not particularly subtle in his approach. Whatever is occurring at Branchwood is almost certainly the doing of a different ley practitioner.
My frown deepened and I looped Malcolm into the discussion. “Could Miss Chin be responsible?”
From the driver’s seat, Malcolm shot me a look. “I wish you’d warn me when you’re about to start talking in my head. Makes me jump when I suddenly hear your voice in my
head, louder than a bomb.”
“Sorry. There’s something off about the ley around Branchwood and we are wondering if Miss Chin might have something to do with it.”
I sensed Malcolm reach out through the etherics for some ley threads to harness.
“Do you really think you should do that while you’re driving?”
He shrugged. “I do it all the time. It’s fine. It’s not like I’m texting or anything. Just pulling some energy together and then using it to scan.”
Sure enough, he sent out etheric feelers through the grid toward Branchwood, which we were just a few blocks away from now.
“Hard to tell what’s happening. My senses have gotten better, but I couldn’t tell you what this is. Could be some sort of new warding spell that Miss Chin hasn’t taught us yet.”
I sighed. “Or has no intention of teaching us.”
He shrugged. “Possibly. I don’t think Miss Chin is all that bad, though.” He shot me a look. “I mean, I agree with you that she probably had something to do with the memory problems my grandma and your grandpa have been having, but I don’t think she’d intentionally keep some piece of training from us that might actually prove to be beneficial.”
He navigated the last couple blocks and then pulled into the Branchwood parking lot, which was surrounded by trees in full bloom and expertly landscaped lawns. And, as a glance showed me, a strange new crop of large black SUVs.
Malcolm grabbed the first parking spot he could and shut off the car. He glanced at me but saw I was staring straight through the windshield toward one of the two SUVs parked in the parking spots farthest away from the building’s entrance.
He nudged me. “Something wrong?”
I nodded slightly at the SUVs, stretching my senses toward them through the ley. “I haven’t seen those here before. How about you?”
He followed my gaze and also reached out through the ley. “No, can’t say as I’ve noticed, but the parking lot is generally packed during the day, and that’s when I tend to visit the most frequently. They look conspicuous now, but with a full parking lot, they’d blend right in.”