by Carl Alves
When they left, Joe examined his eye. It seemed as if everyone wanted to play amateur doctor tonight. “You’ll be fine. You did good out there. There was a lot to like in that fight, despite all the dirty shit.”
“I want to talk to Paulo Santos in his locker room.”
Joe frowned. “The fight’s over. I didn’t like what he did either, but you have to let it go.”
Jake shook his head. “It’s not like that. I just want to talk to him.”
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea. Look, if that’s what you want, I’ll go with you.”
Jake thought it over for a moment. “Okay.”
They made their way to Santos’ locker room, escorted by a member of the security staff.
The arena staff member knocked on the door to the locker room. They entered to shouting in Portuguese. Jake hung back until the shouting subsided, then made his way to his opponent.
Jake said, “Hey.”
The first words came out in a thick Brazilian accent. “You must hit me real good, ‘cause I no remember nothing.”
Jake smiled. That clearly did not sound like Cotter. In fact, it sounded just like the person he had met at the weigh-ins. “Yeah. It was a tough fight.”
“My trainer, he mad at me, say I no fight so nice out there, but I no remember nothing. I sorry. I no try fight dirty.”
Jake patted his shoulder. “Don’t sweat it. It wasn’t your fault.” The sad look on Paulo’s face moved him. He went to Santos’ trainer. “Hey, look, the stuff that went down tonight wasn’t his fault. I said some nasty things to him during weigh-ins about his mama, and he lost it in the cage. If anything, it was my fault. Go easy on him. We all make mistakes.” To further the point, he went over to Santos and hugged him. “Hey man, maybe we can fight again. I don’t think you were yourself out there.”
Santos smiled. “Yeah, I like that. You a good guy.”
The trainer said something Jake could barely understand. He shook hands with everybody, hoping this would smooth things over.
As they were walking back to their own locker room, Joe put his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “That was a classy move. You’re growing up. Santos seems like a nice enough kid. I don’t know what got into him out there. He was like a savage. What were you saying about him not being Paulo Santos?”
“It’s just an expression. Like you said, he was like a savage out there.”
When they got to the locker room, Joe undid the wrappings on Jake’s hands.
Jake’s visit to Santos’ locker room gave him a ray of hope. Maybe, just maybe he had choked Cotter back to the spirit world.
***
Jake lingered by June’s doorstep. They had just returned from the after-party Lawrence had thrown. Jake wanted to make an appearance but wound up staying for over an hour.
“What a crazy night,” June said. “You know, being with you is never boring.”
Jake grinned. “I try to keep it interesting.”
“That you have. I had no idea you were fighting Cotter in that cage tonight. I guess, in retrospect, your victory isn’t so impressive.”
Jake frowned. “How do you figure? I beat down an evil spirit. How many people can say that?”
“Maybe so, but beating a quality professional fighter would be more impressive.”
Jake shrugged. “Still counts as a win on my record. I feel bad for Santos. He doesn’t have any idea what happened but has a lot of bruises to show for it, not to mention a loss on his record.”
Jake stood for a minute staring at June, just content to be with her now that his adrenaline had wound down. He looked at his watch. It was past two in the morning and fatigue was setting in. “It’s late. I should get going.”
June yawned. “I suppose you’re right. Well, it was certainly a night I won’t forget.”
Before he was able to give her a long kiss good night to remember him by, his cell phone rang. “What the hell? Who’s calling me at two in the morning?” He looked at his caller ID and could not recognize the number. “Hmm.” He clicked on his phone.
“You son of a bitch. You think you put one over on me, Jakey? You think you’re hot shit with that cage fighting? That don’t mean nothing. I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna put a bullet in your gut and another in your brain and I’m gonna watch you die. Then I’m gonna kick your stinkin’ carcass. You’re gonna die, Jakey. Next time I come for you, I’m playing for keeps.”
June’s eyes were wide with apprehension. “What was that all about?”
“I guess my theory about finishing off Cotter by choking him out was wrong.” Jake took a deep breath. “He’s still out there and he’s coming for me.”
Chapter XXXVII
Jake hobbled to the living room where June and Kenna were waiting for him.
“You sure you want to do this?” June asked.
Jake nodded. “We have to. It can’t wait.”
“But you’re still hurting,” Kenna said.
Jake shrugged. Besides his right eye, which was blue and puffy, he had injured his right foot in the fight last night. His amateur estimation was that nothing was broken, but he may have sprained it. “Cotter sounded serious. I think this time he means to kill me. If Mia can help us, then we need to find out.”
Kenna clutched the box holding the Ouija board and looked down. “I’m scared, Jake. I just want everything to go back to the way it had been.”
Jake touched her cheek. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll stop him. We’ll find a way.”
June put her arm around Kenna’s shoulder. “We’re in this together, and we’ll make it through together. You just have to be brave.”
“I wish I could keep you out of this,” Jake said, “but I’m going to need you to contact Mia.” Not wanting to put Kenna’s friends in danger, he had not allowed Kenna to invite them to Mark Saleski’s office. It was bad enough that Kenna would be there. “Do you think it’s going to matter that Ben won’t be on the other end of the planchette?”
“It shouldn’t. Cordy and I have contacted Mia before.”
Kenna had expressed reservations earlier when Jake told her he wanted to contact Mia without her friends present, but he convinced her it made no sense to put them in danger since they were dealing with a supernatural homicidal maniac.
Jake said, “If it doesn’t work, then we could always try it again tomorrow with Ben present.”
June had volunteered to replace Ben. Originally, Jake was going to take the other end of the planchette, but when June offered, he readily agreed. She seemed to have more of a spiritual side to her than he had.
Mark offered to use his office. It would be empty on Sunday, and it would be hard to explain Mark’s presence to his mom if they had used Jake’s house.
They got in Jake’s new Toyota and drove to Mark’s office. His cover story to his mom was that they were going to the park for a picnic. Still early in the afternoon, the sky was overcast with a call for rain later that evening. The air felt crisp. Fall was about to give way to winter, which gave the air a certain gloominess. As he drove, Jake constantly looked in his rear-view mirror. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for since Cotter could be anyone in any vehicle. After a few minutes, he gave up.
As they walked into the office building, Jake felt a sense of finality. He hardly knew what to expect, but one way or another, the situation with Cotter was coming to a head. The only thing he cared about was protecting those he cared about.
Mark, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of slacks, met them in the lobby. Jake could see his nervousness as he paced.
“Glad to see you guys again,” Mark said. “I’ve been worried sick ever since my investigator told me Cotter had entered the arena last night. I certainly didn’t think he would switch bodies with the guy you were fighting.”
“You and me both,” Jake said. “He’s either a glutton for punishment or he’s crazy. There’s no way he could beat me in a cage fight.”
“Maybe he has an ego the size of
Texas,” Mark said. “In which case that might be something we can exploit. Regardless, I’m glad things worked out for you. Based on that phone conversation you had with him, you may have rattled his cage.”
“At least I won that round. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t too happy about getting beat down by me last night. In our previous confrontation, he mentioned something about me thinking I’m some kind of tough guy. I guess in his world, people who look like me aren’t that tough.”
Mark motioned to the elevator. “Let’s go to my office.”
They followed him into the elevator up to his office. Once inside, Mark led them to a small table. Kenna removed the Ouija board from its case and laid it on the table. She put the planchette on the board.
“So how does this work?” Mark asked.
Kenna looked up at him. “It takes two people to make the connection. June and I will be the mediums. Are you ready?”
June nodded. “Jeez. I can’t stop my hands from shaking.”
Kenna held her hand. “It’s really not that bad. It feels strange at first, but it’s also kinda cool.”
“What about us two?” Mark asked. “Should we do anything?”
“Just watch.”
Kenna and June took chairs at opposite ends of the table. Kenna grabbed the planchette, and then reluctantly, June took hold of it. They moved it slowly around the board.
“Mia, are you there? It’s Kenna. This time I have June with me instead of Ben.”
They continued to rotate it around the board.
“How quickly does this happen?” June asked.
Kenna didn’t remove her eyes from the board. “It depends. Sometimes it happens right away. There were a few times when we didn’t get any response from Mia, and I thought we had lost our connection with her.”
“Okay,” June said.
“Mia, you have to answer us. It’s really important. We need to talk to you now more than ever. Things have gotten dangerous with Cotter.”
Jake folded his hands, squeezing them together. The tension in the room was thick. Mark had begun to perspire, and June’s hands continued to tremble. Only Kenna seemed to be at ease.
“Mia, please answer us,” Kenna said. “Cotter has been trying to kill my brother. Jake’s here with me now. And so is Mark Saleski.”
Jake felt a shimmer in the air. It was as if an electric current had swept through it. The hair on his arms and legs stood on end. He glanced at Mark, whose eyes had gone wide.
Mark mouthed, Is it her?
Jake nodded. This was how it felt the other time he had been present when they contacted Mia.
The planchette began to move, spelling IM HERE.
Mark gasped.
Jake put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Mark nodded. “I’ll be damned. That really is her. I can feel it. It’s like everything changed from one moment to the next. When it happened, I got this picture in my mind. It was a summer evening when we had gone to a carnival that had come to town. We were holding hands as we were about to enter the merry go round.”
Kenna turned toward them. “Is he okay?”
Mark replied, “I’ll be fine.”
“Mia, Cotter tried to kill my brother a couple of times now. We need to know how to stop him.”
I CAN.
June frowned. “You can? How?”
MUST BREAK THROUGH.
“Break through?” Kenna asked. “What are you talking about?”
The disk moved quickly now. Jake had a hard time keeping up with the letters. YOUR WORLD NEED GUIDE.
“You need to come into our world,” June said. “That’s how you can stop him, right?”
The planchette went to Yes.
“How are you going to enter our world?”
SAME WAY COTTER DID.
“You need us to say the same things we did that allowed Cotter to come into our world?” Kenna asked.
The planchette once more went to Yes.
“And you need a guide once you’re here,” June said. “You need to occupy someone’s body in the same way that Cotter does.”
Yes.
“What’s going on?” Mark asked.
“In order to enter our world, Cotter made Kenna and her friends repeat some phrase,” Jake said. “We have to do the same for her.”
“You mean Mia’s going to be here with us, back in the flesh?” Mark asked. “Holy shit. I don’t think I’m prepared for that.”
June stared at Jake. “In that case, you can use me as your vessel. You can enter my body and do what you need to do.”
Jake frowned. “Are you sure? I’ve seen what happens to people when Cotter enters and exits them. You’ll have no memory of what happened.”
“I realize that, but I’m still the one best suited for this. If Mia is going to occupy someone’s body, it has to be me.”
Jake ground his teeth. He didn’t want June to have to go face to face with Cotter, but it was the only logical thing to do. Kenna was just a kid, and he wouldn’t permit her to endanger herself like that. Mark was an older guy who looked to be not in the best shape, not to mention his emotional state was questionable at this point. As for himself, Jake had to be ready to take out Cotter when the time came.
Jake nodded. “It has to be you. I just wish it could be somebody else.”
“Don’t worry.” June smiled. “It’s going to be okay. If Mia can stop Cotter, then it’s worth the risk. Mia, I’ll be your guide. If we manage to pull this off, then I want you to enter into me.”
The disk spelled out, I WILL.
“When Cotter tricked us, he told us to say ‘By the power of wind and fire, I give you passage. Eachlais’. Is that what we need to say?” Kenna asked.
Yes.
Kenna turned around. “We all have to say it.”
June said, “Okay, Mia, are you ready for this?”
Mia answered Yes.
In unison, they said, “By the power of wind and fire, we give you passage. Eachlais.” During the first five times they said the words, nothing happened. Then a wind blew through the office even though no windows were open. The next time they chanted, the wind grew stronger, blowing papers off Mark’s desk. The wind continued to gust harder each time they repeated the phrase. A bright light flashed on one side of the room. A roaring flame rippled across the room, but it didn’t seem like anything was actually burning other than the air itself. When the wind blew the flame toward them, Jake had to fight the urge to duck for cover.
“By the power of wind…” June stopped suddenly in mid-sentence. Her head snapped back, her momentum knocking her to the floor, where she landed with a thud.
“June!” Jake ran over to her. The turbulence that had been present subsided. He looked into her wide eyes. “June, are you okay?”
She blinked rapidly and shook her head. “I’m not June.”
Jake backed up. Her voice no longer sounded like that of the June he knew. “Mia?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’m Mia. I—I managed to break through.”
In the background, Mark’s voice sounded like a croak. “Mia.”
She began to rise, and Jake extended his hand to help her to her feet. “Mark? Is that you?”
He nodded.
A small smile crept onto Mia’s face. “You look…different.”
His cheeks were damp with tears. “Well, it has been a long time.”
Mia nodded. “I suppose it has.”
“God, I’ve missed you.” He stepped forward, embraced her, and broke out into a full sob.
After a minute, Mia broke away from the embrace. “We have to deal with Cotter. Where is he?”
Jake shook his head. “We don’t know. I fought against him in a cage last night, but now we don’t know where he’s at, who he’s possessing, or anything else.”
Mia frowned. “You fought him in a cage?”
“It’s a long story,” Jake said. “What I can tell you is that he’s been killing people and committing other cr
imes, then switching bodies, all the while leaving others to pay the price for his crimes.”
“That sounds just like Cotter,” Mia said. “We have to stop him. It was an incredible ordeal to get here, and I need to bring Cotter back with me. First, we need to find him.”
“That’s not going to be easy,” Jake said. “We have no idea where he is or even who he is. Mark has a private investigator trailing him, but after our fight last night, we lost his scent so to speak.”
Jake looked at his phone when it chimed with a text. He gasped. The text came from his mom. It contained a photo with her tied to a chair. She wore a look of terror. The message read, Stopped by your house Jakey. You weren’t here but your mom was.
Jake cried out, trying to fight the rising panic. “We have to go. Cotter’s at my house and has my mom tied up.”
Chapter XXXVIII
With the others in the car, he sped back to his house, his mind filled with dreadful possibilities. While they were talking, he tuned them out, praying his mom would not be harmed. He was hoping she could stay out of this mess, but now Cotter forced his hand. He was going to kill the son of a bitch.
When they arrived at his house, Jake ran to the front door, and the others followed closely. Jake opened the door and found Cotter. Rage coursed through his veins as he stared at his adversary.
Before Jake could think to do something, Mia stepped forward. “You don’t belong here, Cotter. Your life extinguished years ago. This place is for the living.”
Cotter sneered. “Fuck off, bitch. If you like that place so much, then why don’t you go back? As for me, I was never down with the after-life. This is where I belong, right here with my good friends, Jake and Kenna.”
Jake turned to Kenna. “Stay back! Find somewhere safe to hide.”
“He can’t hurt her,” Mia said.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“Kenna’s his conduit. He entered the world through her, and therefore he cannot harm her. In fact, he must ensure that no harm comes to Kenna, just as I must ensure that no harm comes to June.”
Cotter snarled. “Shut up, you stupid bitch.”
“It seems as if I gave away his little secret.”