by Wendy Wang
A slow hiss echoed around them. Jen turned her head away and grabbed hold of Sugar’s hand. “Look away Ms. Blackburn.”
Charlie stepped up to Talmadge and looked him in the eye. “You are no longer bound to this land. You have no more power here. It's time for you to move on.”
Talmadge began to laugh.
The fireball had consumed the leaf, dirt and blood and Charlie took the ash in her hand, and moved it to Talmadge's forehead letting it fall through him.
He opened his mouth to speak but choked on the words. His arm dropped from around Lisa's neck and she fell forward, landing hard on her hands and knees. She gasped and coughed. Talmadge's gaze trailed down his body. The sharp end of the curved blade protruded from his chest. He let out a sharp, loud keening as the reaper collected him. The sound made Charlie's bones ache. She'd only seen the reaper twice — each time acting as harbinger. Instinctively she squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them Talmadge and the reaper were gone. One by one the spirits of the girls ascended toward an opening in the canopy, their light twirling until they faded into mist.
Chapter 32
“Oh my God, I can’t believe this, the views keep coming.” Daphne slid into the booth next to Charlie with her phone in her hand. “Over 14,000 views and I haven’t even really promoted it beyond a couple of tweets and a post in an occult group on Facebook.”
“I can’t believe you were recording video the whole time.” Charlie held her nose over her coffee cup and breathed in the heavenly scent of chocolate, cream and coffee before taking a sip.
“That was the whole reason we got involved in the first place.” Daphne grinned.
“Yeah well, I still don’t think it’s a good idea to show it.” Jen sipped her coffee.
“Oh, what’s the harm?” Daphne scoffed. She cut her short stack with the side of her fork and stabbed the bite of her three pancakes. “It’s not like there’s anything more than a bunch of silver lights and a dark shadow and of course Charlie’s pyrotechnics.”
Charlie nibbled on her last piece of bacon. “You mean Jen’s pyrotechnics.”
“Whatever. It looks fantastic.”
“Well, I agree with Jen — I don’t know how smart it is to court—” Lisa leaned in close to the table and whispered the finish, “a reaper.”
“Y’all are paranoid. You can barely see him.” Daphne took a bite of pancake.
“Speaking of courting,” Lisa said directing her gaze toward Charlie. “How’s your boyfriend?”
“How many times do I have to tell you? He. Is not. My boyfriend,” Charlie protested.
“Uh huh.” Lisa nodded. “So, are you helping him?”
“Not much left to do, really. Ray Kurtz broke down, admitted to everything, taking the girls, raping and killing the first girl and burying her in the woods. He even admitted to breaking into my apartment and attacking me. Of course, he also said he did it because the voices told him to, so who knows exactly where he’ll end up.”
“Well, I for one am glad you’re moving out of there.” Jen stretched her arm across the table and touched Charlie’s arm.
“Me too.” Charlie smiled and took another sip of her coffee.
“You know with all these views, people are going to want more.” Daphne grinned.
“Daphne, just back off,” Lisa warned.
“It’s okay. I’ve already decided to give readings more regularly for clients. Help them and their loved ones connect one last time. If a troublesome spirit comes up at least I know I can help.”
“And you’ve got us to back you up,” Jen offered.
“Thank God for that,” Charlie said.
“What about Jason? Is he going to be one of your clients now?”
Charlie quirked an eyebrow. “We’re taking it on a case-by-case basis. There may even be some consulting fees involved.”
Lisa’s hazel eyes shined, and she gave Charlie an approving grin. “Nice. Keep your receipts. Business expenses.”
“Yes ma’am.” Charlie glanced at the clock hanging behind the counter at The Kitchen Witch Cafe. She slung the strap of her bag across her body and pushed gently against Daphne. “In the meantime, I’ve got to get to work. There’s a co-worker there who really needs my help.”
Charlie walked into the women's bathroom and checked every stall to make sure she was alone. Then she turned the lock on the door.
“Helen?” Charlie asked. “I know you're here.”
“Well of course I'm here,” Helen snapped, her voice coming from behind Charlie. “Where else am I going to be?”
Slowly she turned and faced her deceased coworker. “You know I can't believe I've never thought about this before. But what exactly is it that you’re waiting for?”
“What am I waiting for?”
“Yes. You know I’ve been seeing spirits since I was five and the ones that get stuck, like you, are almost always waiting for something. I really don't think you were damned to stay here for all eternity. In fact, I’m gonna crawl out on a limb and say I know you're not. But if I'm gonna help you I need to know what you're waiting for.”
Helen's bottom lip quivered. “I guess I'm just waiting for that scrawny little supervisor to get a taste of his own medicine.”
“What medicine is that? You told me you can't leave this bathroom. That you would haunt him if you could. But I don't believe you really want to do that. I believe what you really want is just to move on but something inside your head—”
“What head? I don’t have a head anymore.”
“Yes, you do. Just like you still have a heart. What do you want him to know Helen?”
Helen paused and her dark eyes shimmered with wetness. Could a ghost cry? Or was it just a manifestation of some remembered emotion? The apparition’s chest heaved and released an audible sigh.
“I want him to know that I understand about rules and policies. But I also want him to understand that he’s dealing with human beings, not machines, and sometimes it’s more important to be compassionate and to try to understand what your employees are going through.”
A chill settled around Charlie’s heart. “What were you going through Helen?”
Helen placed her hand just above her left breast. “It was my heart you see—” Her fingers tapped against her gossamer chest. “It was failing me. The doctors had me on all sorts of medicine. They wanted me to quit my job, stay home and die. But I just couldn’t. I wasn’t ready. But some days when I woke up, it was hard to breathe, and I just needed a little extra rest. At the same time, I had to come to work. I needed the health insurance to help me pay for the medicine. That’s all. I just wanted him to look at me like I was a human being and ask me what was going on. Instead he looked at me like I was just another chronic rule breaker he had to deal with. You know I worked for this company for twenty-two years.”
“That’s a really long time.”
“Yes it is. Too long for them to just write me off.”
“I’m so sorry Helen. You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think we should write him a letter. I think we should write him a letter and tell him everything that you just told me. I can’t promise you it will change anything. In fact, I’m pretty sure it won’t. But maybe it will free you, which is way more important.”
“And you would help me with that?”
“Absolutely.” Charlie said. “I would be happy too. In fact, I can’t wait to hand him the letter and say this is from Helen Jackson.”
Helen smiled wide for a moment but it faded as quickly as it came. “What if it doesn’t work? What if I really am damned to stay here for all eternity?”
“Well first of all, I think it will work. And second of all, if it doesn’t, then I think you need to make up your mind to leave this bathroom and go haunt his scrawny ass for the rest of his tenure at this company.”
Helen laughed, and it was the best sound Charlie had heard all day. “I think that is a brilliant idea.”
&nb
sp; “Just remember it’s Plan B. Plan A is to get you where you’re supposed to be, which is clearly not here.”
“Alright-y then. Let’s get started.”
Charlie pulled a pen and notebook out of her bag. “Great.” She smiled. “Just tell me what you want it to say.”
Charlie carefully folded the letter into thirds and slid it into the envelope. “It’s done.”
“Yeah,” Helen said.
“Do you feel any differently? Is there a white light?”
“No, not yet,” Helen said. “There is one thing I’ve seen. I’m just not sure exactly what it is.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“Maybe I should show you instead.” Helen drifted to the first stall and moved through the door.
“You know I can’t do that, right?”
“Of course. I’m dead not stupid,” Helen quipped.
Some part of Charlie was going to miss Helen.
“Come in here.”
Charlie sighed and pushed open the door. Helen’s head and torso hovered over the toilet and her legs disappeared into the bowl. The sight sent a shiver crawling over Charlie shoulders. There were just some things she would never get used to.
“Okay. What is it that you want to show me?”
“Take a look at that hook on the back of the door.” Helen said. “Look closely.”
Charlie turned around and leaned in close looking at the white plastic hook large enough to hold a coat and a purse. In the center of the white plate where the hook attached was a tiny black opening. She squinted at it unsure exactly what she was seeing.
“Helen? What am I looking at?”
“I don’t know exactly. When I first woke up in here, it made a little buzzing noise. Till I touched it. It hasn’t buzzed again since.”
“Okay?”
“All I know is that every single stall has one,” Helen said. “And it gives me a bad feeling.”
“Okay,” Charlie said, still not sure exactly what she was looking at. “You’ve shown me. Now what about that light?”
Helen smiled wide, her teeth gleaming. “Oh yes. I see it now. Thank you Charlie. Thank you so much.”
Charlie watched as Helen faded and for the first time in her life she knew exactly why she was made the way she was why she saw what she saw and heard what she heard and she wasn’t afraid.
Chapter 33
Charlie took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock on Dylan’s door. He was the only supervisor who constantly kept his door shut. She didn’t even want to hazard a guess at what he did in there. A soft moan came from the other side of the door. Maybe she didn’t have to. She tucked the envelope into her back pocket, placed her hand on the knob and, as quietly as she could, pushed the door open. All the supervisors had two desks in their office and the faux wood monstrosities were configured into an L-shape with one desk against a side wall and one desk between the supervisor and the door. Two chairs faced the supervisor’s desk for meeting with their reps or other visitors.
Dylan had his tall faux-leather chair turned away from the door, facing the two computer monitors on the desk facing the wall. Charlie could easily see the monitor with the call center software up on the screen showing who was on a call, who was on a break, who was in a wrap-up code and how long. The other monitor had been turned, so it was not quite so easy to see.
She moved a little closer and craned her neck until she could see the other monitor better. It looked like some sort of video of several bathroom stalls. One of them was occupied by her co-worker, Sara Milner. She edged closer to his desk, and it took a moment for her brain to register exactly what she was seeing. Dylan, with his pants unzipped and his hand stuck inside his boxer shorts.
“Oh my God,” she muttered. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she backed away. “Oh my God.”
Dylan’s half-closed eyes flew open and for a moment he struggled to get his hand out of his pants and to stand up.
“What are you doing in here?” he snapped, fumbling with his belt and zipper.
“I think a better question is what are you doing in here?” Cameras. That’s what Helen had shown her. Charlie paced, fuming. “I cannot believe you! You are just a disgusting little troll.”
“Hey — you should be careful. You're not exactly the most stable of my employees and I have video to prove it. You talking to yourself in the bathroom.”
“Seriously? Have you lost your freaking mind?” She raised her voice. Hopefully it would get the attention of one of the other supervisors or better yet the call center manager. She didn't want to leave him here alone in case he could somehow destroy his evidence. “I catch you in here masturbating to women going to the bathroom. So, you’re the one that planted the cameras!”
“Is there a problem in here?” The call center manager Joan Ridley poked her head in. She wore black pants, a red silk top, and every piece of her salt and pepper hair was perfectly in place. “Dylan, are you all right?”
“I think a better question Joan would be, are your workers all right? I just caught Dylan with his hands in his pants masturbating to images of women using the bathroom.”
“Charlie those are some very serious allegations.” Joan stepped inside the office and folded her arms across her chest.
“They are. And you better believe I'm going to go to HR about them and maybe even the police because clearly what he’s done is plant cameras in there. Which has to be illegal?” She couldn’t wait to ask Jason later.
“Dylan?” Joan asked. “What is she talking about?”
“Nothing — Joan it's fine. I have this under control.”
“What exactly do you have under control?” Joan frowned.
“Charlie. I'm afraid she's not exactly been our most stable worker. I've been trying to cover up for her and give her the benefit of the doubt but—”
“Oh no you don't get to do that. You don't get to make me sound like I'm crazy. Joan, I would like you to get someone from HR to accompany you and me to the bathroom and I'd like to get someone from IT here to check his computer for a live feed to those cameras.”
Joan stared at her for a moment, flustered before finally picking up the phone on Dylan's desk.
“Hey Roger, it's Joan over in the call center. Do you have a moment to step into Dylan Henderson's office? Yes, it appears we have a situation here. I have a rep accusing one of my supervisors of lewd behavior. Sure. Thanks.” Joan hung up the phone and walked over to the computer.
“Joan? Seriously, you don't believe her?” Dylan stepped in front of the monitor, a defensive ring in his voice.
“Honestly, Dylan, I don't know what to believe at this point. But Charlie’s made a complaint and I’m obligated to look into it. If you’ve done nothing wrong, then there isn’t really anything to worry about, is there?”
Dylan’s pale face blanched to an unnatural shade of white. If he’d been see-through, Charlie would’ve assumed he was a ghost.
A few minutes later Roger Hill entered the office along with two members of the IT department. Charlie recognized one of them as Micah Hodges. They had been in the same new hire orientation seven years ago. Micah sat down at Dylan's computer and his fingers whizzed across the keyboard.
“I'll be damned,” Micah said. “There's definitely of feed of cameras coming to this computer. I’m really surprised we didn't pick up the signal before now.”
Dylan crossed his arms. “I have no idea how that got on there.”
Roger’s gray bushy eyebrows furrowed. “Joan, Dylan. You need to come with me to my office.”
“Of course,” Joan said.
“Do you need me anymore? I need to get back on the phone,” Charlie asked.
“Thank you, Charlie, we'll call you when we need you,” Roger said, giving her a perfunctory smile.
“Oh and Dylan,” Charlie said. “This is for you.” She pulled the envelope with his name out of her pocket.
“What’s this?” He stared down at it with a distasteful look
on his face.
“It's a letter from Helen Jackson,” Charlie said.
“Helen Jackson died Charlie,” Joan said.
“Yes ma'am she did. But she still had a few things she needed to say to Dylan.”
She pressed the envelope into his hands. “Read it.” Charlie gave Dylan one last look of disgust.
Her whole body felt lighter as she walked away. Maybe being true to herself wouldn’t be so hard after all.
Author’s Note:
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Check out my other books:
Witches of Palmetto Point Series (Supernatural Suspense)
Book 2: Wayward Spirits
Book 3: Devil’s Snare
The Book of Kaels Series (Fantasy)
Book 1: The Last Queen
Book 2: The Wood Kael
Book 3: The Metal Kael