Matt replied with a muffled, “Tired,” and turned onto his side.
Haku looked at his watch. “Shit.” With a small sigh, he climbed off the bed and covered Matt with a thin blanket before kissing his shoulder and rushing to get washed and redressed.
“Matt,” he called out as he slipped into his shoes. Matt’s reply was only a gentle snore that made Haku grin, despite his irritation at both himself and his friend. Looking at the bed a final time, Haku said softly, “Try to keep the blanket on in case Foster comes back before I do.”
Matt curled up in a fetal position, and the blanket hugged the firm, round curve of his ass, arousing Haku’s desire all over again. With a stifled groan, he forced himself to leave the room, smiling to himself as he rushed down the stairs and out to the small lot where his motorcycle was parked. He’d pay Matt back tonight for this.
Haku had risked blowing two red lights to get to the restaurant quickly, and now stood in the entryway gazing into the dining area as he waited for the maitre d’ to finish taking a phone reservation. From the dining room, Professor Adler caught his eye, nodded, and attempted a smile, but it was plain to see that this “meeting” with his old nemesis was putting a strain on him. Haku could only see the guy’s back.
“I’m really sorry to be late. Matt had car trouble, so he’s stuck back at the university waiting for a tow,” Haku said to Professor Adler once the maitre d’ showed him to the table.
“And yet you managed to grace us with your sterling presence. Lovely.”
Haku studied Adler’s former classmate.
If Adler was a model for laid-back and mellow ‑‑ if not somewhat eccentric ‑‑ professors, this man was exponentially opposite. His carefully groomed beard and mustache accentuated his square jaw, the dark eyebrows resting heavily over eyes almost as frosty a gray as his hair. Two class rings glinted on his steepled fingers, and Haku recognized the garnet stone for Boston College.
“Haku, this is Dr. Pearce Dannings from Voyager Films.” Adler stood up to welcome Haku, banging against the table and almost knocking over a glass of water. Haku darted out a hand to catch the cup and only a little bit of water sloshed over the rim.
“Good reflexes.” Dannings smiled without showing his teeth. He tossed a napkin across the table to sop up the spillage and offered Haku a handshake.
“Right.” Haku cleared his throat and accepted the greeting. Dannings used a little more force in his grip than he might’ve had to, but Haku had no problems returning the gesture.
Haku took a seat, and Adler returned to his own. The flustered professor tugged on his tie. “Haku Nishikawa is one of the students I was telling you about, Pearce.”
“Don’t worry, Dwight, I gathered as much.” Dannings chuckled softly, his mirth blatantly condescending. “So what do you know about Voyager Films, Haku?”
The question had a nasty air of being a test more than anything else. Already Haku was glad Matt had opted out of coming; his friend would be bristling from this guy’s attitude. Adler tensed up and stared, making it painfully obvious that he had nervous expectations for Haku’s reply.
“Well, the company is distributing a lot of the academic films used in North American institutions.” Haku furrowed his brow. “We have a few on catalog at our university.”
Dannings chuckled again as he shook his head. “Voyager distributes most of the academic films on catalog anywhere, Haku. We also produce hundreds of documentaries annually on a wide, wide range of studies. Fifteen have been nominated this year alone for awards in their respective categories.”
Adler made a strangled little noise he quickly covered by gulping down some water. Haku looked from his professor to Dannings and tried to keep his response as tactful as possible. “That’s exciting news for your company, Dr. Dannings.”
“Everyone’s company, Haku.” Pearce grinned, this time showing a row of pristine, white-capped teeth. “Voyager is dedicated to educating millions of people everywhere. The knowledge isn’t just ours, but the responsibility to share it with everyone is.”
Haku nodded slowly, his mouth set in a neutral line to keep himself from letting out a sarcastic sigh. Beside him, Adler made a hacking sound in the back of his throat to catch Haku’s attention. “It, uh, would be nice to contribute to a project like that,” Haku said, and Adler gave him a poorly concealed thumbs-up under the table.
“That’s just what Dwight and I were discussing,” Dannings said. “Voyager is in the process of filming a documentary on ‘unexplained phenomena’ and the like. We’d like all of the students in your program to participate.”
“That would be Haku and Matt.” Adler nodded enthusiastically.
“There are only two students on the paranormal psychology track?” Dannings raised both eyebrows.
“It’s a very competitive program,” Haku lied through his front teeth. He swept his bangs out of his eyes and added quickly, “So what can we do for you folks?”
“I’d love to have both you and Matthew, as grad students, film a small segment for the documentary,” Dannings explained. “It’s nothing the two of you couldn’t handle, and in return for your contribution, Voyager Films is prepared to donate a twelve-thousand-dollar grant to your program.”
Haku’s eyes bulged in their sockets. “Wow.” He glanced over at Adler, who was ready to fall out of the seat. “That’s very generous.”
“Enough to keep you boys chasing ghosts for at least two more semesters,” Dannings said. “Does that sound acceptable?”
Haku and Adler exchanged enthusiastic glances. “I think so,” Haku said.
“Great.” Dannings rubbed his hands together. “This is very exciting.” He stood up to leave, and both Adler and Haku got up also. The three men shook on the deal.
“I’ll see you and Matt tomorrow evening, then,” Dannings said to Haku. “We’re actually filming in the city, a few blocks south of the university campus. Dwight will give you the directions.” He chuckled and looked up at the ceiling. “If he remembers to, that is. Give my receptionist a call if you end up needing directions.”
Reaching into his blazer’s inside pocket, Dannings offered Haku a white business card. Haku accepted it with a dry look. “Thanks.”
Dannings waltzed to the front of the restaurant and slipped out through the glass-and-wood doors. As soon as he was gone, Adler slumped back into the chair with a sigh of relief. “You were brilliant, Haku. Wonderful!”
Haku made a face. “The man’s a paramecium.” He returned to his seat, tapping the card against an empty water glass. “A total slimeball.”
“With money!” Adler clasped his shoulder. “So what if he’s a little full of himself?”
“Right.” Haku tucked the card into his back pocket while Adler did a mini-touchdown dance in his seat. He looked across the table, noticing something for the first time since he’d sat down. Aside from the two half-full glasses of water and gold embossed menus placed in the center, the table was empty.
Haku’s stomach growled, reminding him he’d skipped breakfast. And after the “workout” with Matt earlier, he was starved. Haku blinked at his professor. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a lunch meeting?”
Adler stopped dancing. “Hmm, you know…it was.”
“But where’s the food?” Haku frowned.
“I guess he forgot to order.” Adler tapped his chin. “No matter. We’ll have something to celebrate.” He reached for one of the menus and propped it open. He scanned the page for a moment, his smile dropping like a ton of bricks.
“Or not.” He snapped the menu shut.
“That bad, huh?” Haku’s shoulders slumped.
“Let’s just say we better get out of here before we get a bill for the water.” Adler glanced nervously around the room.
Haku wilted. “Yeah.”
Pearce Dannings had just gotten into his limo when Haku and Adler exited the restaurant. As the Lincoln pulled away from the curb, Dannings pulled out his cell and dialed his wife. “Me
et me in the lounge at the Five Points at six; we’re going to celebrate and toast our dear, old friend Dwight Adler as he so gloriously goes down in flames with his pathetic little lackeys by his side.”
Chapter Three
When Haku got back to his dorm the bed was empty, but the shower was running. Haku kicked off his shoes and headed toward the bathroom to surprise Matt with the good news and maybe a little something else.
The water stopped, and Haku smiled to himself. “You washed off a bit too soon, my friend,” he said as he pushed open the door.
Fuck! It was Foster. Hairy, pimply-assed, pot-bellied Foster! “Oh. Shit, sorry.” He slammed the door shut and leaned against it.
Haku almost fell backward into the bathroom when Foster opened the door, but he managed to catch himself on the doorjamb and lurch forward. He backed up against the side wall. “Sorry, man. I thought you were Matt. He came over and crashed a while ago.”
Foster glared and went to rifle through his dresser. “Nobody was here when I got back an hour ago.”
An hour? Damn, Matt hadn’t really slept at all if he’d left an hour or more ago. Haku went to his bed and plopped down on its edge, trying not to notice the used condom that had missed the trashcan and landed behind it. He fell back and pulled a pillow over his head.
He’d known Matt and loved him for two years now. But sometimes it was as if he hardly knew the man at all. Did Matt feel the same, or was he in this just for the physical side, like the mind-blowing, earth-shaking sex they’d just had?
Haku sighed into the pillow. He could almost hear Matt drawling in his ear, “You’re overthinking again, Haku-chan.” But he wished instead for more meaningful words like, “I love you, Haku-chan.” Or at the very least, “I’ll actually show up on time to help you TA classes tomorrow morning, Haku-chan.”
Maybe that last one really was too much to hope for. On the bright side, Haku could catch up on some sleep before the late afternoon classes. Then he could hunt down some dinner and put in a couple of hours on his paper…
An absolutely bone-grinding bass line thundered through the dorm room. Haku bolted upright, pillow flying and his heart pounding somewhere in his throat. “What the hell!”
Foster sat hunched over the keyboard of his PC across from the double beds, the computer speakers rattling on the table from the vibrations. He glanced over his shoulder, head bobbing in time with the beat. “It’s reggaetón.”
“Yeah, I know.” Haku rubbed his temples. “But would you mind please putting on your headphones?”
“What?”
“Headphones!” Haku shouted and pointed to his ears.
“Can’t.” Foster turned back to face the monitor. “The jack on the speaker’s busted.”
Haku rested his forehead in both hands. “Can you at least lower the volume? I need to get some sleep.”
“Look, I need to get this lab report done.” Foster grunted. “I can’t work when it’s quiet.” And that was that.
“Fine.” Haku dragged himself out of the bed. He shuffled across the room and grabbed his messenger bag from next to the door. Schlepping the bag along behind him, he trudged out and headed for the library where freezing his ass off in the archive room seemed like a small price to pay for some quiet.
* * * * *
Matt smiled to himself after he made his way through the mazelike library stacks to the small maple table in the corner near the radiator where Haku always liked to study. His lover was slumped over a thick open book, and the skin of his forearms beneath the cuffed sleeves of his shirt was dotted with gooseflesh.
A bit of late afternoon sun pierced the mottled skylight and cast reddish highlights on the back of Haku’s head. Damn, but Haku looked good. Of course, he always looked good and had from the first day Matt had set eyes on him during a brief vacation down in Malibu.
Approaching the table, Matt shrugged out of his denim jacket and draped it over Haku’s slim back to warm him. He took a seat opposite his lover, pulled out the small recorder and headphones, and began to transcribe the pertinent parts of today’s interview into his laptop.
Case Study #75
Madeline R. and minor daughter, Daria
This appeared to fall under the heading of what G.N.M. Tyrrell termed Continuing Apparition, but later evolved into a Crisis Apparition.
Madeline is a reticent, blue-collar, single mother of a now sixteen-year-old daughter. Their experiences began shortly after the unexpected death of Madeline’s husband in 1992 when financial circumstance forced them to move from their suburban home to a small apartment in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Daria was eighteen months old at the time and just beginning to speak in simple two- to three-word sentences. One weekend a month, Madeline worked the midnight shift at a local nursing home. With no childcare facility available at that hour, their downstairs neighbor, Mrs. D, would baby-sit Daria in her apartment.
Madeline didn’t think much of Mrs. D’s comments about the way Daria seemingly “talked” to her favorite teddy bear as if it were speaking back to her. The child often did the same in their own apartment, and Mrs. D confirmed that her own children had such imaginary friends until they became of school age.
Madeline became slightly worried as time passed and Daria continued to converse with her imaginary friend, “Rei-Rei,” long after she’d given up taking the favored teddy bear to bed with her and had begun attending kindergarten. But the child seemed to only speak of or with this “friend” before bedtime, and Madeline chose to believe it was simply a “stage kids go through.”
As Daria began elementary school, she still spoke to “Rei-Rei” and often drew pictures of her, insisting that she was becoming “more real.” Though concerned, Madeline was reluctant to consult with any school counselors or psychologists because Daria was developmentally fine in every way, with a high IQ and above average growth and learning percentiles. Note: Madeline also referred to, “Not wanting those paper pushers in her business because they were trained to find something wrong.”
Madeline produced a series of her daughter’s sketches from ages six to ten, when the apparition reached its peak. “Rei-Rei” appeared to be a young Chinese woman of the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, dressed in traditional brocaded loose trousers and a flowing embroidered top. (Insert images.) She fit the image of local “Sing-Song Girls,” aka prostitutes. (Insert images.)
The night prior to the climactic encounter, in late spring of 2001, Madeline left Daria with Mrs. D. As was her custom, when she returned from her job at six o’clock the following morning, Madeline left Daria with Mrs. D until noon so that she could get a few hours’ sleep.
This particular morning, as Madeline came home from work, an apparition appeared at the top of the landing leading to her apartment.
Madeline knew at once that this was “Rei-Rei,” and though she was startled, she wasn’t afraid and so approached. She said the apparition appeared to be no more than a child herself, perhaps sixteen years old at most.
When Madeline reached the landing and passed the apparition, she heard a muffled, but distinct, “No go” echo in the hallway.
A muffled yawn came from across the table. Matt looked up over the top of the notebook’s screen and gave Haku a quick smile. “Did I wake you?”
“Nah.” Haku rubbed the back of his neck, his pretty almond-shaped eyes still drowsy with sleep. “What’re you working on?”
“One of our case studies.” Matt slipped off his headphones and set them around his neck. “It’s a really fascinating one, too. At first it seems like the teenage daughter might be the agent. But as the interview progresses, it’s obvious the mom is the center of the paranormal activity.”
Haku scrunched up his nose as he tried to stifle another yawn. “Displacement?”
“More like a loci or a daemon,” Matt said, excited. He typed away at the laptop. “Just wait until you read these transcripts. It’s a bona fide guardian spirit for sure.”
Haku slid out of his chair and moved around the table to stand behind Matt. He rested his chin on Matt’s shoulder and slipped his arms around Matt’s waist. “Whoa,” he breathed, squinting at the screen. “Both the mom and daughter have witnessed the manifestation?”
Tilting his head to touch Haku’s, Matt scrolled up to the beginning of the document. “The daughter first started seeing this manifestation when she was a toddler, which, incidentally, is another great piece of data to help support the hypothesis that prepubescent children are more receptive to metaphysical contact.”
“Uh-huh,” Haku agreed, turning so his lips almost brushed against Matt’s cheek. “This is the twelfth one so far in a batch of about thirty cases involving minors, right?”
Imagining Haku’s warm mouth on his ear and cheek ‑‑ among other places ‑‑ Matt almost forgot about the case study. He must have gotten a spacey look because Haku poked him in the ribs. “Sorry.” Matt grinned to himself.
Haku sighed, his chin still perched on Matt’s shoulder. “I don’t even want to know what you were thinking about.”
“You sure?” Matt started. “It was kind of related to that dream I was telling you about before…”
“So what happened with the case?” Haku poked him again. “Madeleine was able to see the apparition?”
“That’s not all.” Matt picked up where he’d left off, his excitement for the case building up again. “The apparition actually made physical contact with Madeleine the evening after the hallway encounter ‑‑ pulling off the blankets on the bed, shaking the walls in the woman’s room, messing with the flow of electricity to the television sets and lamps.”
“That’s a poltergeist, Matt, not a daemon,” Haku corrected, his tone airy and almost superior.
“Let’s bet.” Matt turned to smirk at him. “Seventy-five bucks says it’s a protector spirit, not a poltergeist.”
Haku rolled his eyes. “You’re on.”
Cackling, Matt grabbed the recorder. “Turns out the apparition caused enough of a disturbance that Madeleine couldn’t bring herself to leave for work. She and Daria ended up spending the night elsewhere. The next day, Mrs. D’s body was discovered by neighbors. Someone broke into the apartment and murdered her.”
Parallel Process Page 3