Bears of Burden: WYATT

by Candace Ayers

  Everything happened so fast that Lillian wasn’t even totally sure of what had occurred. All she knew was that she was now hanging upside down in the car, held in by her seatbelt. Caleb was on the floor, laying in a mass of broken glass, groaning. He seemed to be going in and out of consciousness.

  “Damn you Caleb, I told you to let me drive!” Lillian yelled down to him. Caleb barely stirred, which cued her in to the fact that he was going in and out of awareness from blood loss. Lillian knew shifter healing was incredibly quick compared to that of humans, but that wasn’t to say that they couldn’t be gravely injured and killed. She also knew that for him to be in the state he was in now, Caleb was hurt very badly. Lillian unbuckled her seatbelt and plummeted to the ground, landing on her hand. She crawled over to Caleb and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there nonetheless—he was alive. For a brief moment, Lillian felt a small surge of relief. She searched the car for Caleb’s Department 99 radio to call for help.

  She found the radio among a heap of metal and glass. “Agent down, approximately 2 miles west of Eudora, near the 10. Requesting immediate medical evac.” The radio crackled and Lillian repeated herself. No one responded. This time, Lillian held down the button on the side of the radio and virtually screamed into it.

  After a few moments, a Department 99 dispatcher responded. “Help is on the way, agent. Hold tight.”

  Lillian dropped the radio and lay back for a moment. She then made her way back over to Caleb, crawling over broken glass. Again she reached up to Caleb’s neck to feel for a pulse. It was weak, there wasn’t much time. Lillian noticed a warm fluid dripping down into her hair and onto the side of her face. The fluid was falling onto Caleb too, soaking his beautiful mane of hair. The strong smell of gasoline flooded the inside of the cabin. Even though Caleb’s body technically lay on the ground, he was enclosed by metal. Lillian crawled over to the passenger side door and tried to pry it open—it was mangled shut. Then, another harsh smell flooded the cabin. It was the smell of an electrical fire. Lillian was hit with the realization that if she couldn’t find a way out very quickly, they would burn alive.

  She kicked at the glass of the mangled door, trying to shatter it with the weight of her legs. The glass was sturdy and wouldn’t even budge, but then a tiny crack appeared on the right hand side. Lillian kicked again—another crack. Then, Lillian screamed and kicked three more times in rapid succession. Finally, the window shattered. She crawled back over to Caleb and tried in vain to wake him.

  “Caleb, we have to get out of here. Caleb, wake up!” Lillian shook him and he simply bobbed limply from side to side. Without thinking, Lillian grabbed him by the ankle. She used her body weight as leverage and slowly began to pull him towards the window. Inch by inch, she was able to move Caleb’s body closer to the window. Lillian winced as she raked his back across the broken glass. When he woke up he would be injured, but hopefully they would both be alive. When she reached the window she relentlessly shoved at Caleb’s limp body over and over. Inch by inch, she pushed him out of the hole and crawled out right after him.

  Soon after, sparks flew within the car. In a matter of moments, the vehicle was engulfed in flames. First, the cabin went up in a bright orange blaze, and then the fuel tank exploded, sending pieces of metal flying all around them. Lillian leaned over Caleb and shielded him with her own body.

  When Caleb woke up in Department 99’s hospital ward he was surprised to see Lillian sitting by his side, clinging to his hand. Lillian. He could smell the sweetness of her shampoo, feel the softness of her touch. Maybe he was dreaming of her- again. The look of concern in her eyes moved something within him. Caleb’s vision was a bit hazy, but eventually his eyes started to adjust. As he became more alert, the memories started returning. He assessed his surroundings. He had and IV in each arm and was receiving a blood transfusion. His thigh ached and was tightly bandaged. Slowly, Caleb remembered that he had been shot.

  Lillian squeezed Caleb’s hand and then withdrew. He wondered why she’d let go. “How are you feeling, tiger?” Lillian asked with a sly smile. Her smile made his heart skip a beat, and stirred something within him. “I’m a bear, not a tiger.” Caleb managed to squeak out with a tiny smile.

  Lillian was undeniably beautiful. Suddenly, Caleb remembered that the kiss in the car. For some reason he felt ashamed, and lowered his glance.

  A nurse entered the room with a tray of food, and seemed to flirt a bit with Caleb—which angered Lillian in a way she couldn’t quite explain.

  “Agent Caleb Winters, you are one lucky man,” the nurse smiled and winked. “Your partner here saved your ass. You’d have gone up in flames if it wasn’t for her,” the nurse continued. Caleb looked at Lillian with a questioning glance. Oddly, Lillian simply shrugged the compliment off and rolled her eyes. The nurse punched a few things into the computer located in the corner of the room, and then withdrew a small syringe and vial from a nearby refrigerator. She pressed the needle into the mouth of the vial and withdrew a small amount of fluid up into the syringe. Then, without speaking the nurse jabbed the needle into Caleb’s muscular arm. Caleb winced for a moment, and then drifted back to sleep.

  Lillian looked at the nurse angrily. “Why did you do that?” Lillian demanded.

  “Shifters heal a lot faster when they’re unconscious. If we do it this way, he’ll be better in a few days, versus a couple of months.” Lillian grabbed her coat from the back of her chair and angrily strode out of the room, leaving Caleb sleeping peacefully. Something inside her had wanted to tell him what he meant to her, but that certainly wouldn’t be happening now that he was so drugged.

  Who the hell was Chachi? This seemed like a ridiculous amount of trouble to go to in order to resolve a demonic possession in a child. Finn didn’t seem like a special child in any way—aside from the fact that he was possessed. He wasn’t from a family of great influence. It just didn’t make much sense. Why would such a powerful demon take an interest in the boy, and why on earth would a mobster’s ghost get involved in the ordeal?

  Lillian walked down the hallway, thinking deeply. Perhaps the mobster ghost had something in common with the demon? Why else would the mobster identify with such a vile entity? None of it made any sense. She needed to consult a few experts.

  The first person Lillian called was Carrie Needles. Carrie wan an intuitive with a knack for figuring out mysteries involving the occult—but especially demonic possessions. If anyone could make sense out of this ordeal, it would be Carrie.

  Lillian slammed the car door and strode up the walkway to Carrie’s small house. The house was covered in shrubs and unkempt plants. A few cats lingered about in the shadows, and Lillian crossed her arms in front of herself after ringing the doorbell. After a while, she could hear some movement within the house, and the distant creak of footsteps as they approached.

  “You better not be trying to sell me no more of them Girl Scout cookies!” Carrie chuckled from inside. “Last time I bought four whole boxes from you, little girl and I gained five pounds!”

  Suddenly, Carrie opened the door. When she saw Lillian standing in the doorway, her disappointment was almost palpable. “You again,” Carrie said, annoyed. “What do you want this time? Every time you come around, that means there’s trouble.” Lillian cleared her throat and followed Carrie into the kitchen. There were cats jumping about inside the house on virtually every surface. Lillian had never seen so many cats in one place.

  “So what kind of trouble have you brought me today?” Carrie asked, sitting down at her kitchen table. She pulled a sugar cube from out of a glass container on the table and began to suck on it. Lillian noticed that one of Carrie’s front teeth was black. Carrie smacked her lips, seeming to enjoy the taste. “You’re in love,” Carrie blurted out while simultaneously looking Lillian up and down. Lillian’s face reddened and she glanced downward at a grey cat sauntering by.

  “I’m here about a boy. The boy is possessed by some kind of entity, but there see
ms to be a ghost protecting the demon. I need some help sorting this out,” Lillian spoke. Carrie’s face softened when she learned that a child was involved. Lillian placed a small photo of Finn onto the table and slid it over to Carrie. For a moment the old psychic paused, and squinted. Then, she removed her glasses and studied the photo from up close.

  “This isn’t what you think it is, girlie,” Carrie warned. “This is big..BIG…trouble,” Carrie continued. Lillian’s stomach twisted over and she felt as though she might be sick. “You got anything else that belongs to the boy? Maybe a toy?” Carrie asked. Lillian shook her head no. Carrie then gestured to a phone on the wall. “Call him up and put him on speaker for me. Don’t tell him I’m listening, just ask him how he’s doing.”

  Lillian hesitated for a moment, and then walked over to the old phone on the wall. The phone was hanging in a crooked position, but still worked. She dialed Finn’s number and quickly pressed the speakerphone button. Finn’s mother answered on the other end. “Hi Kelly, this is agent Lillian Smithson, I just wanted to see how Finn was doing today.”

  Finn’s mother paused—Lillian could tell from the way she paused that things weren’t going well. “We’re not doing so good today,” Kelly spoke quietly.

  “Can you put Finn on the phone?” Lillian asked. There was another pause and then a series of clatters, as the telephone was handed to the little boy.

  “Hello?” a tiny voice asked on the other end of the line. Then, the voice deepened and Finn began to chant in Aramaic again. “Hello Carrie…maaa…shhhhaaa…leeeenn” the boy’s voice was terrifying as he spoke to Carrie.

  “Hang it up!” Carrie yelled from across the room, and Lillian slammed down the receiver.

  Carrie immediately began rushing around the kitchen. She grabbed a small bundle of sage and lit it on fire. A thick coil of smoke billowed up from the bowl of burning sage, and Carrie made sure to cover both herself and Lillian in the smoke. Lillian looked a bit perplexed.

  “He was calling out to other forces to come and attack us,” Carrie explained. “Have either of the parents ever dabbled in the occult? It’s unusual to see something so severe in such a young kid. This is not a random occurrence. This boy was targeted.” Carrie spoke firmly.

  “I’ve investigated the family and they don’t seem to have any involvement with anything that would bring this on.” Lillian answered. “What about the grandparents, neighbors, cousins…” Carrie continued her line of questioning.

  “The boy became friends with an elderly man in a nursing home who died—his name was Tom. After Tom died, Finn started seeing Tom’s ghost walking around the house at night…that’s how all of this started.” Lillian explained.

  Carrie shook her head, “It wasn’t Tom’s ghost. I can tell you that from just listening to that voice. Come with me.”

  Carrie stood up and quickly led Lillian into another small room of the house. In this room, symbols were written all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. She immediately lit another large bowl of sage. “I know for a fact that it’s one of the original fallen angels. When the boy was talking I could see the false light signature coming from his soul-energy. It’s also odd that he directed his curse at me and ignored you entirely.”

  Carrie bustled around the room some more, and shut the door. There were words and symbols also scribbled all over the back of door. “This place is a fortress. We can speak safely in here,” Carrie added. A shiver went up Lillian’s spine. For some reason, she wished that Caleb was there with her. She thought of him laying asleep in the hospital bed, and then pushed the image from her mind. Caleb would know what to do, or at the very least he wouldn’t be shaking with fear like she was.

  Carrie rushed over and pulled a large book off of one of the shelves in the room. “I don’t think you’re dealing with just two entities. When I listened to the boy’s voice—I sensed three dark forces. One is probably your dead mobster, and the other two are demons. One is a powerful demon, and the other is a lesser demon. You need to come up with a plan of attack girlie,” Carrie shook her head, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation to Lillian.

  “When I went to the occult library I was told that I’m a descendant of a man called Aengus Smithson. The librarian said that he tricked the devil and so now all of his descendants are off-limits for the demonic. She said that if we could trick the demon into talking to me, it would automatically be sent to a lake of fire.” Lillian offered.

  Carrie smirked. “Those new age librarians don’t know a damned thing compared to the occult experts from my generation. I don’t even know why Department 99 sends you guys over there. I know the legend of Aengus Smithson by heart, and she left out a few key parts. For one, the female descendants of Aengus don’t have the same protection that the male descendants do. If you’ve tried to call out to a demon—they are allowed to attack you, they just can’t possess you.” Carrie reached up to scratch at a spot on the center of her head. “So, as much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I’ve got to tell you that they can speak with you or attack you without any threat of harm to themselves.”

  Lillian frowned, “Well, why won’t Finn’s demons talk to me? I’ve asked direct questions and every time, the entities seem to ignore me and speak to other people in the room.”

  Carrie considered her question for a while. “That is the question, isn’t it?” Carrie answered. “I saw something somewhat similar to this in the 1970’s and it wasn’t good. By the way, be sure to guard your mind. The pact isn’t as ironclad as a novice might think. They might not be able to possess you, but they can still drive you to insanity or drive you to commit suicide. They’re very dangerous.”

  Carrie got up and walked over to one of her cabinets. She reached inside and grabbed a few bundles of sage, which she handed to Lillian. “Native Americans figured out a long time ago, that sage contains some powerful properties which dispel dark energies. You’ll need something much stronger, but for now this can at least offer you some protection.” Lillian took the sage and clutched it to her chest.

  Lillian quickly looked around at all of the writings on the walls, floor, and ceiling. “What if I tried to call out to Chachi from here? Would he be able to answer me?” Carrie nodded silently. She walked over to a table and picked up a small eraser. She then erased one line of the chalk writing nearest Lillian.

  “That should break the stronghold enough for the mob ghost to slip through, but should still offer us protection from the demons. I’ve created a teeny tiny little crack in our fortress girlie, so if you’re going to call out—do it quickly.”

  Lillian closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could hear her heart thudding away within her chest, and she tried consciously to slow her breathing and to silence her mind a bit. Then she recalled what Chachi’s voice had sounded like. Before her lips uttered even a single word, she called out to him with her mind. Then, she asked him, “Chachi, why do you want to hurt Finn?”

  For a long while, no one responded. The candles in the room flickered and Lillian could hear Carrie’s breathing across from her. Then, the mobster’s voice came through. Instead of answering her question he seemed to be cussing her out. After he was finished unleashing a stream of cuss words he called her an idiot. Lillian pressed on. “Why are you helping the demons to destroy a little boy, Chachi?”

  This time a hoarse nasty-sounding voice responded, “Why don’t you stay out of my business and shut the hell up…” She was getting nowhere. Suddenly, a terrible pain slammed itself into the side of her head. Lillian felt as if something were trying to invade her skull. “No!” Lillian shrieked. Carrie jumped up, with her piece of chalk in hand and replaced the missing line of the protection spell on the wall. Chachi was gone.

  Lillian sat doubled over, holding her head in her hands. Her forehead pulsed and throbbed. Carrie quickly went over to the corner and pulled a leaf off of a nearby plant. “Chew this,” Carrie said as she handed it over to Lillian. The moment Lillian put it in her mouth
, she felt instant relief.

  About a half an hour later, Lillian found herself back in Caleb’s hospital room. He was still sleeping quietly, and Lillian couldn’t help but admire the perfection of his brow, his chiseled features, and the way his hair fell. He was so handsome. Again, she reached down and took his hand into her own. Lillian squeezed his palm, this time, hoping that Caleb might squeeze back.

  Slowly the hospital door creaked open. A serious looking woman stepped inside with a tray, which held a few syringes. Lillian knew this woman by sight. She was a Department 99 legend. Her name was Karyn Rourke and she had saved the world, more or less. While she still worked in the field, Karyn had finished medical school with the help of Department 99, and now often worked the hospital units.

  Karyn walked over to Caleb and smiled slightly. She noticed Lillian clutching his hand tightly. She seemed to comprehend the bond between Lillian and Calen that Lillian herself didn’t quite understand.

  “The first time I met your friend, he threatened me,” Karyn smiled to Lillian. Karyn lifted Caleb’s eyelids and glanced at the white of his eyeballs. She then listened to his heartbeat. Without saying a word, Karyn gave Caleb two new injections—one into his leg wound, and another into his bicep. “You can take him home after he wakes up, but bring him back if he has any further complications.” Caleb woke up just as Karyn was exiting the room.

  Caleb’s eyes slowly blinked open. “Hey you,” Lillian said to him softly. “Hi,” Caleb grumbled. Caleb’s eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light. The first thing he noticed was a head of bright red hair beside him, then he felt Lillian’s hand in his own. After that, he felt his strength rapidly returning. He felt almost like a shadow of a person returning to a whole form. Lillian’s blue eyes gleamed in the dark room. He noticed that as she leaned in to hold his hand a certain amount of her cleavage was exposed. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to touch her, to finally tell her the depth of feelings he harbored for her.