by Hart, Jerry
Don remembered something else. “The night I confronted the demon...was that you? Did you help?”
Stephen nodded. “That was incredibly brave of you, going into its lair like that.”
“I’d probably be dead right now if you hadn’t helped,” said Don. “But you can’t keep hiding behind the ‘gods.’ If you knew the demon was dead, why did you stay hidden?”
Don wasn’t even sure if he believed what the man was telling him, though it did explain a lot. Don always wondered where those storms came from, right when he needed them.
“I tried to prevent your brother from killing those people. That demon used him to kill others like us, others who could bring about the monsters’ downfall. The demon is dead now, Donovan,” said Stephen. “It can’t hurt you anymore.”
Don shook his head. “It may be dead, but it’s not gone. It spoke to me tonight, told me it was possessing someone I knew. It said it was looking for a way to return.”
Stephen looked shocked. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, and then closed it again.
Don left the kitchen. “If you’re not going to help me, then there’s no point in us being in contact with each other anymore.”
“I did help you,” Stephen said, grabbing his son’s arm to stop him. “You’ll see. Conner won’t act up anymore. The power of suggestion—don’t discount it.”
Don shook his father’s hand, gathered his boys and left.
Chapter 10
Diedre landed at Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field early in the morning thinking about the story that would make her famous. It had been over a decade since she’d returned to her native Augusta. After her interview with Mr. Scott, she knew she was getting closer to something special. She also knew she would get nothing from the man himself, so she had to get it from someone else.
Ivy Peterson had been convicted of murdering her boyfriend a decade ago—right in front of her young son, who just happened to be Mr. Scott’s nephew. That was a story in itself, but it had already been written. Several times. Diedre was more interested in the connection the murder had to the author she was investigating. She knew there was a connection.
She arrived at the mental institute and went through all the procedures before being escorted to the patient’s room. A woman sat by the window, a woman who almost looked more animal than human. Her hair was frizzy and black, with streaks of gray. Her face was tight, lean and mean. Her almond-shaped eyes made her look feline. The same eyes of little Conner Peterson.
“Ms. Peterson, thank you for agreeing to see me.”
“Please, call me Ivy. I wanted to meet the woman snooping around in Don’s life.” She grinned, causing the hair on Diedre’s neck to stand on end. She hadn’t mentioned Don to Ivy, yet the woman had seen right through to the truth.
“Well,” said the reporter, “he is a fascinating man with a complicated past. He’s very secretive.”
“Everyone has the right to be secretive,” said Ivy, losing the grin. “You probably know more about him than I do at this point.”
“That’s probably true,” Diedre said as she got out her recorder. “However, you are his sister-in-law, so to speak. You never married his brother Ethan. Is that correct?”
“That’s correct.”
“But you and Don spent many years around each other before your...imprisonment?”
Ivy tilted her head to the side. “Are you implying that I hooked up with him?”
“Not at all.” That wasn’t what she was thinking, but it was interesting that the woman went there. “It’s just that you two had to have spent significant time together. You had to have come to know him fairly well.”
Ivy grinned again. “What are you after, Ms. Marshall?”
“Just the truth. Mr. Scott is a local celebrity who has come under public scrutiny lately.” Diedre decided to cut to the chase. “There have been several murders committed near his home, and I’m the only person who doesn’t see them as merely coincidental.”
“Ah. I see now.” Ivy laughed. “Do you think Don is a murderer?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“Oh, come now, yes you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be talking to a convicted murderer like me.”
Diedre decided to change tactics. “Why did you murder your boyfriend?”
“Because he posed a threat to my child.”
“You mean Conner?”
Ivy twitched at that name.
“Doesn’t it bother you that your son is living in such a dangerous environment?”
Ivy looked worried now.
“I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on,” Diedre continued. “Something dangerous is going on over there, and there are innocent people involved who could get hurt.”
“None of them are innocent,” Ivy whispered.
“What does that mean?”
Ivy suddenly looked at her with different eyes. A strange jackal-like grin appeared on her face. “I suggest you drop this story, bitch. You’ll die if you pursue it further.”
Ivy’s voice had changed.
“What do you mean?” Diedre tried to stay professional, despite the fact that she wanted to piss her panties.
Ivy’s eyes grew glossier, as if a light source was shining on them alone. Everything else grew dim around her. “I know you’ll never back down from this story, so all I can do is warn you. None of those boys are innocent. They’ve all done something evil and will do even more. That’s exactly what I want, that’s the one way I can venture forth from this prison for good. They’ll kill you if you get close enough. Your best bet is to stay away.”
Suddenly, Ivy’s eyes returned to normal and the jackal’s grin vanished, only to be replaced by a confused expression. “What just happened?”
Diedre didn’t know what to think about what she’d just seen. But she knew she had seen something, a change not only in appearance but in personality.
She had just spoken with an entirely different person.
“Um, thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Ivy.” Diedre grabbed her recorder and left as quickly as her feet could carry her.
* * *
Don stood on the front porch, staring up at the stormy sky. It was only afternoon, but it seemed later. Everything was a bluish gray, and the air was cool. Lightning and thunder traveled through the clouds every now and then.
Much to his surprise, Don was actually quite comfortable. Despite the disturbing conversation he’d had with his real father the night before, his mind was at ease. Perhaps it was because he knew of a cure to the curse. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to use that cure.
He doubted that power-of-suggestion nonsense would do any good, though he couldn’t deny the conviction in Stephen’s voice. The old man had truly believed that would be effective. Don wondered if Stephen’s father had simply done that to him, or maybe performed an “exorcism.”
And then there were the “gods.”
Don looked up at the dark sky again. Thunder rumbled as if in response to his thoughts. “Are you real?” he asked the sky. “Will you help me?”
No thunder. Nothing.
No, not nothing. A car was coming up the street toward his house. He didn’t recognize it, but he did recognize the driver.
He walked toward the car as it parked next to the mailbox. “Monica, what are you doing here?” He wasn’t unhappy.
She smiled at his smile. “I missed you, and the kids.”
She looked tired but happy.
“Do you mean what I think you mean?” he asked.
“I want to start over,” she replied. “Can we just start over?”
Don hugged and kissed her. “What brought this on?”
She looked around the gloomy neighborhood. “All of this, believe it or not.” She laughed. “Being here with you and the kids. I missed being a wife and mother. I never realized how much until I gave it all up.”
“The old-maid life just wasn’t for you,” Don joked.
/> “Watch who you’re calling old.”
They laughed again. And then they kissed.
* * *
The family spent the whole day together. The weather improved greatly, allowing them to picnic in a park nearby. It had seemed a cheesy idea at first, but everyone enjoyed it.
Don and Monica discussed the idea of selling the house. Considering all the terrible things that had gone on in and around the place, Don was more than willing to make the decision.
This discussion, of course, led to speculation about what had happened to the previous owner. All Don had heard was that the man had passed away. Don assumed it was natural causes, due to old age, but Monica encouraged him to open his mind to the possibility that he’d been murdered.
Don called his realtor the next day to get the full story. She informed him that the man had died in his sleep and that no foul play was suspected. Don was surprised to find himself disappointed with this news. If the previous owner had been murdered, then the killer could have been the one committing these current homicides.
Alas, the suspicion still fell upon Conner.
* * *
Jordan was running the track at school when he felt a presence next to him. Erin was keeping pace with him, barely sweating at all. Jordan, on the other hand, was sweating buckets.
“Did you hear that Leo killed himself?” she asked him.
Jordan nearly tripped. “When?”
“Yesterday. I guess he couldn’t handle the nightmares anymore.”
“I let him down.” Jordan stopped jogging.
“What do you mean?” Erin asked.
“I should have been trying to help stop the nightmares by figuring out how Conner started them in the first place. I thought I’d find something at my grandpa’s—”
“Your grandpa’s?” Erin interrupted.
“Oh, yeah, I met my long-lost grandpa the other day. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell me anything.”
“What about Conner?”
“He told him stuff, but I don’t know what. Conner wouldn’t share.”
“There was nothing you could’ve done,” Erin tried to assure him.
The rest of the P.E. class passed them.
“I could’ve asked Conner to undo what he did to Leo.”
Erin didn’t respond. She was clearly thinking the same thing, which made him feel worse.
* * *
Diedre tried to go about her regular routine after returning from Augusta a few days ago, but the interview with that Ivy woman still rattled her bones. Before, she had only a strong hunch that the mystery surrounding Donovan Scott was worth investigating. Now, she knew. The question now was whether or not she wanted to continue that investigation.
She thought of the people who’d been murdered near Mr. Scott and was afraid of ending up like them.
But what did Ivy have to do with anything? Were she and Don part of some homicidal cult or something? Did Ivy have multiple personalities? What did she mean about “venturing forth from this prison”? Did she mean the mental hospital? Diedre didn’t think so, not really. There was no doubt in her mind that she had spoken with two individuals that day, but was Ivy aware of that other personality? She’d seemed confused when the other voice went away.
Diedre decided there and then that she would continue her investigation. The answers to this compelling mystery would be worth the risk.
* * *
Dad had made the announcement during dinner one night that he and Mom were getting back together. Jordan figured as much since she’d returned a week ago and stayed in Dad’s room. Also, she was slowly moving all of her belongings into the house, which was a huge tip-off.
Jordan was happy about this because he missed his mom. After all the terrible things that had happened over the past year, he wanted things to go back to normal. Mom and Dad getting back together was a huge step in achieving that.
Things did seem to improve after meeting Grandpa, Jordan also realized. Conner and Dad were getting along better, and no one else had been murdered in or around the house. Progress.
Dad also announced that he was selling the house and buying a new one. That news excited Jordan; he liked new things with their new smells and relished the thought of a house in which nobody passed away. He harbored the belief that the previous owner’s ghost resided in the walls.
All in all, life was pretty good. Jordan still felt guilty about Leo’s suicide, but there was nothing he could do about it now. The boy had suffered those nightmares for so long anyway that he probably would’ve been insane for the rest of his life.
At least he would’ve been alive, a voice reminded Jordan.
No amount of rationalization would change the fact that Conner had done something supernatural to Jack and Leo. Conner’s nauseating vibe seemed to vanish after talking with Grandpa, however, and no one else brought it up, so Jordan decided to ignore it as well. Hopefully, this peace would last forever.
* * *
After another week, Mom was fully transferred to Texas. She was still in the process of selling her house in Georgia, but all of her belongings were here. She even had a job at the hospital in downtown Fort Worth.
Dad said the two of them were getting remarried, but they weren’t having a fancy wedding. Jordan found that sad because their first wedding hadn’t been fancy either—Mom had been super pregnant with him at the time. Jordan wondered if he would ever get married, and if so, would he have a traditional wedding or just go down to City Hall like Mom and Dad were going to do?
He was mulling this over in the cafeteria at school when Erin suddenly joined him.
“You look happy,” she said.
“Things are going great, so why shouldn’t I be?”
She laughed as Conner and Travis eventually joined the table. “That’s good to hear. Has your dad found a new house yet?”
“He said he found one this morning and that he just has to hammer out the details first. He’s gonna take Conner and me to see it after school.”
“Fun. Are you going to have a party at the new house after you move in?”
Jordan laughed. “We’ll see.” He looked at his cousin and Travis, who were talking and laughing together across the table. “When did they become friends again?” he asked Erin discreetly.
“Again?”
Jordan suddenly remembered that, as far as Erin was concerned, the two always hated each other. Nor was she aware that the two guys had secretly been hooking up. Jordan wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.
When the boys got home later that day, Dad asked them if they still wanted to see the new house. Of course, they said, so the whole family took a relatively long trip to a rich-looking neighborhood. It was the kind of suburban area one would see in a movie that made fun of suburbia.
The house Dad bought was a two-story all-brick monster. It almost looked like a mansion. The neighborhood was gated, with security posted at the entrance. Jordan didn’t really relish the thought of dealing with that every day once he got his own car and would be able to go wherever he wanted.
On second thought, however, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about any more murders in his backyard. His attitude suddenly brightened as everyone got out of the car and stepped into their new home.
Jordan took in the new-house smell—wood and paint and plaster. He loved the smell of new.
“This place is the shit,” said Conner.
“Thank you,” Dad replied. “And watch your mouth.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mom stood in the large kitchen, leaning on an island in the middle. She had a far-off look, like her mind was somewhere else entirely. Conner ran to the backyard, and Jordan decided to join him.
The yard was more like a hill. The boys could see tiny buildings far away on the horizon, but what really caught Jordan’s attention was the in-ground swimming pool directly in front of him. Though it was November and cold, he delighted in the thought of swimming in that beautiful blue water once the weather grew
warmer.
Next, the boys ran upstairs to pick out their rooms. All of the bedrooms seemed the same size, so neither Jordan nor Conner benefited from their choices. And that was just fine. Too bad they couldn’t move in today; Dad said it would take at least a month to finalize everything.
Life really seemed to be returning to normal. No, better than normal.
That was, until Dad dropped the bombshell.
“You guys will have to start a new high school. This place isn’t zoned for the one you’re going to now.”
“What!” Jordan and Conner said together.
“I know how you feel. I had to go to a new school when my brother and I moved as kids.”
“I don’t want to go to a new school,” Jordan whined.
“Do you guys still want to live here?”
“Yes,” the boys replied together.
“You can’t have it both ways, guys.”
Jordan and Conner looked at each other and then sighed at the same time. Their choice was clear.
* * *
Thanksgiving was only a week away, and the boys had bugged Don about inviting Grandpa Stephen—the kids wanted him there and Don did not. In the end, the boys won out. Unfortunately, Don didn’t have his father’s number, so he had to drive over and invite the old man in person.
Don found him in his backyard, watering one of the peach trees. Stephen was wearing a loose silk shirt and shorts with sandals—summer wear.
“Stephen?”
The old man turned his head and grinned. “Hello, son.”
Don didn’t like being called that, but he let it pass. “I don’t suppose you have any plans for the holidays?”
Stephen ceased spraying the tree and thought for a moment. “I suppose I don’t. Are you inviting me over?”
“The boys are.”
“And you’re not?” That annoying twinkle in his eyes.
Don sighed. “You’ll have to forgive me for being upset with you, but I guess I can set my feelings aside for one day.”
“I’d love to come over.” His smile seemed warm and genuine now. He plucked a peach from the tree and offered it to Don.
He bit into it reluctantly and found it sweet and juicy. A flood of memories washed over him, memories of summers as a child in Florida. Of course, Stephen wasn’t a part of those memories.