Desert Son Trilogy: Desert Son, Wayward Soul, Spiritual Intervention (Books 1-3)

by Glenn Maynard

  The stage was now set. Evelyn appeared to have shut down, and Carter and Brenda sat at the kitchen table like spectators waiting for the match to begin. She swung her legs up on the couch and put her head down so that she was parallel to the ground. From the kitchen, Carter and Brenda could hear just about anything happening in the living room, including the intense breathing sessions that she was having with herself. Deep breaths in and deep breathes out. The process went on for some time.

  Silence was the key to reaching the spirit realm as the participant had to become one with the atmosphere. Evelyn appeared to know what she was doing and it looked like she was almost there. She had more experience than Carter and Brenda combined. She worked professionally for years. Of course they would entrust her with Adam. They would be stupid and selfish not to. Besides, they had no other option.

  From where they sat, roughly 25 feet away from Evelyn, they could see twitching begin in her face. Then she began to make slight guttural sounds as if she was just starting to fall asleep. Very subtle hand and foot twitches followed. Evelyn was all in. She had set the tone for the room and there would be no interruptions. She had just begun, and from that distance they could see that she had already gotten red lipstick on her teeth. She was consumed by the process.

  “This is a little awkward,” Carter whispered.

  “Yeah, but at least she let us sit in to see what’s going on. I mean, really, what choice did we have? We needed resolution fast.”

  They returned to the main event unfolding before them. The tempo had picked up some. Now Evelyn was convulsing. Carter got up from his chair and made a movement towards her, but Brenda quickly grabbed his shirt and pulled him down.

  “Remember what she said to us,” Brenda whispered.

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Carter! This is exactly her point. You could ruin the process if you interrupt her just because you think she’s in trouble. How many times did she tell you? Sit down and stay seated! We’re relying on Evelyn’s success.”

  Carter looked at Brenda sheepishly, but he knew she was right and he had jumped the gun. If this was a football game, an off-sides flag would have been launched onto the field. They had to sit tight and realize what will be, will be. With that in mind, they sat back and continued to watch what was turning out to be a carnival freak show.

  Once again, they watched bizarre body twists and guttural outbursts from Evelyn. No wonder she gave that warning in the beginning, Carter thought. The way she was acting seemed traumatic. She began coughing and making choking sounds, and then she was laboring to breathe. Brenda pushed down on Carter’s shoulder just as a reminder to stay put. Even after all of the warnings and false alarms, Carter was still getting caught up in it.

  “Adam!” she yelled out. “Adam! Come to mamma.” A smile enveloped Evelyn’s face as she put her arms in the air, awaiting a hug.

  Brenda leaned over to Carter and whispered, “Why would she call for Adam? He’s here. I don’t get it.”

  “I have no idea,” said Carter. They both glanced at the monitor and confirmed that Adam and Bradley were still very much a part of this world. Martin was trying to change that, but at this point in time, they were still here.

  They vacillated between the monitor and Evelyn on the couch. Wherever the most action was taking place, their eyes would follow. Back and forth they moved during the lulls. Suddenly, Evelyn made a noise. She shouted out and that brought their eyes back to her. There was nothing coherent about what she was saying, and that made it even more frightening to Carter and Brenda. This was the woman who was trying to save their son?

  Brenda instinctively glanced over at the monitor just to make sure they could afford to concentrate on Evelyn’s bizarre behavior on the couch, but she soon learned that they could not. Bradley was sitting harmlessly on the bed, but Adam was slowly walking across the room toward the closet like an old man in a jerky motion. His face was distorted and he was grimacing. It almost looked like he was impersonating Martin. He then began to speak, and the audio on the video camera confirmed that he indeed was speaking as Martin. The sound came through perfectly now

  Their attention was yanked back to Evelyn as her legs began to kick and her volume rose a notch. Their eyes took in this new picture, which abruptly raised Evelyn to a sitting position. Her head then clicked to the left about five times until she reached the breaking point, and then her neck balanced out when she clicked her way in the complete opposite direction, before centering itself in the normal position.

  “Damn,” said Carter, “that was like the Chucky doll.”

  “That had to hurt,” said Brenda. “That was bad-ass and strange. Very strange. Carter, I’m scared!”

  Evelyn then made gurgling and clucking noises.

  “Oh my God!” said Brenda. “Look at Adam!”

  When Carter turned to see why Brenda was in a panic, he noticed that Adam was levitated just enough above the sitting position on the bed. However, he was still sitting Indian style and his arms were folded in front. His eyes were closed and he was rocking gently from side to side. He did not seem aware of what he was doing or where he was at the moment.

  “Adam,” Evelyn screamed. “Adam, come to me. Come to mamma. Adam…please…be the kind child that you always were and forgive mamma. Forgive mamma and come to me. You need to rest. You need to rest, Adam. You need to help us.”

  Carter and Brenda looked at each other in utter confusion and Carter said, “Did we ever mention Adam’s name to her?”

  “I’m not sure that we did,” said Brenda. “Strange, but it looks like he’s now part of that realm. Look at him, Carter!”

  Brenda quickly pointed to the monitor at Adam. She was frantic. Adam was lifted into this region and there should be no reason that he had to become subjected to it at such an early age. Martin was now using their son in his world. It was one thing to mess with him here, but to bring him away and into the in-between world in which he lived was an atrocity. They had to get their son back, and as hard as it was to watch, it appeared that Evelyn had inadvertently made contact with him. She was their only hope, and now it was critical.

  “I thought that Evelyn was going to contact her son; the one who died so young,” said Carter.

  “Yeah,” said Brenda. “That’s what she said.”

  “Then why was she trying to connect with Adam as soon as he arrived?”

  “You would think that she would immediately be reaching out to her son. You usually reach out to those who are closest.”

  “Adam…Adam…Adam,” she called out.

  “Yes,” said Adam. His voice came through the monitor. Carter and Brenda received confirmation that it was their son who she was in contact with once this exchange took place. He was still in his spot hovering and rocking away slowly, but the connection had been made. It was like he was in two places at one time.

  “Not you,” said Evelyn.

  Carter and Brenda were thrown once again. Just when they believed that Evelyn had made contact with their son and the healing process was in full swing, they were thrown from the horse. Evelyn was talking to a six-year-old boy named Adam, but apparently it was not Adam Spence.

  “My Adam,” said Evelyn.

  CHAPTER 32

  There was a silence that passed through every inch of the house. It was the calm before the storm. Adam Spence’s arms began to crumble to his side and his tightly woven legs wiggled apart as he collapsed back down to the bed. Bradley sat next to all of this as a witness, and he continued to tremble from fear. Silence extended into the living room. Evelyn appeared to be concentrating hard on whatever picture it was before her.

  “Adam,” she finally said, breaking the silence. “I want you to know
that mamma always loved you. Mamma always loved you. I want you to know that, and I miss you very much. Daddy misses you too. I also want you to know that I am so, so, sorry about what happened to you, and I have trouble living with myself. I need your forgiveness, and I need you to pass over to the other side so you are no longer a restless spirit. Adam, can you do that for me?”

  “Their six-year-old boy was named Adam, too,” said Brenda, but the article said his name was Lucas.”

  “Yeah, it did,” said Carter. “If their son’s name really is Adam, then Evan’s behavior is making more sense every day. I don’t know…”

  They sat there watching Evelyn at work in the living room. She was talking to her son, Adam, whom she lost in a hit-and-run car accident as a six-year-old boy, while in Evan’s custody. She felt extremely guilty because she had custody and had to give it up because of her husband. Evelyn apologized every day for that mistake in judgment, and promised to apologize every day until the day she joined him in death. Evelyn was leaning back on the couch, smiling. She was temporarily reunited with her son, Adam, but she had to visit him with utmost caution. Her son clearly was not over it and didn’t seem to want to cross over. He turned out to be a little guy with a mean spirit and a grudge, and that’s why he wreaked havoc whenever Evelyn tried to poke her nose in his business. She didn’t care about him when he was six years old, so why would she care about him now that he’s not even a part of her life. Whenever she tried to reach out to him, he would push her back. She rejected him then, and he rejected her now.

  This was a chance to try to reconnect with her son, but Evelyn knew that she might have to wallow through the raging fires of hell, especially after the last time she tried to reconnect with him. His spirit may still be hanging around, but it wasn’t a nice one. From his perspective, he only got six years of life on this planet because of parents whose job it was to protect him. He was not protected. He was shifted around and not really wanted by anybody. When push came to shove, he was pushed and shoved. His whole life he was pushed and shoved until one day he was pushed and shoved by a hit-and- run driver.

  Evelyn’s son didn’t owe the world or anyone in it anything, yet Evelyn was going to ask about forgiveness again as well as ask for his help to save another six-year-old boy named Adam. Her heart was breaking every time she tried to reach out to him unsuccessfully, but her heart had become callous over the years, and now she could withstand a little bit of heartache. Her heart was a lot tougher now, but only from a seasoned perspective.

  “Adam, I’m not just coming to you today to ask for your forgiveness,” Evelyn began. “I have a favor to ask. Actually, it’s not me who has a favor…it’s friends of your father. They have a six year old named Adam, too. He needs help. There’s an old man who has been terrorizing this family for many years now, and they need him to move on. Maybe you can both cross over.”

  A strange thing occurred when Evelyn stopped speaking. It seemed as though she was looking into the air at her son, but nobody was there. Then after a short pause, Carter could see an apparition of a little boy, and had to assume it was Evelyn’s son, Adam. He could see it because he had made a connection to that realm, but Brenda could not see it.

  The little boy appeared before their eyes, materializing in a spot in front of them. Carter had been looking at Evelyn, and then her son slipped in between them. Now it was a positive thing that Carter could pick up on that realm the average person could not see. For the first time in his life, and with his son’s life on the line, Carter was able to snag a benefit from an out-of-body occurrence.

  “Lucas Adam DiNallo…thank you for coming to mamma,” said Evelyn. “You know mamma loves you, right?”

  “I know mamma loves me,” said her son.

  Carter sat up and took notice. “I can see him and actually hear him speak,” he whispered to Brenda, then honed in on the conversation. Brenda couldn’t see or hear a thing. How this conversation turned out was a matter of life and death for their son. Carter was interested all right. He was not going to miss one syllable of this conversation. At least they finally made sense of the name.

  A big smile enveloped Evelyn’s face. Her eyes were open and she was looking at her son. “I need you to forgive me,” she said. “I really need you to forgive me.”

  Lucas Adam gingerly rose off the floor and hovered about two inches above it. He slowly shook his head, denying her request. Evelyn had a look of surprise and hurt on her face because she thought it had been going well until her parole was denied. It had been the most positive beginning to date. Even Carter thought it had been moving along in an amicable way and he had been relaying the progress to Brenda. Lucas Adam had them all fooled, though, and he took a sharp turn in another direction, which was the direction Evelyn was expecting from the beginning.

  “I don’t do favors for people that do not allow me to see my seventh birthday. That’s what I don’t do. My sixth birthday was my last, and had I known, then I would have tried to take you and dad along with me. But I can get you back in other ways. You see, my body may stay the same, but my brain has developed. I bet you never expected that could happen. The best part about being where I am is that I don’t have to do anything you say because you lost your privilege to say anything to me. Contact me again, mamma. Contact me again. Keep contacting me. You will get what you deserve.” And with that, her son smiled.

  There were swirls and flashes and smoke and dust and a little bit of everything making up the energy that was once Lucas Adam. He was swirling around in front of her and coming at her in a threatening way, then retreating.

  Lucas Adam continued to taunt her until she broke down and cried. She lost the connection to him, and he seemed to be making it so that any time she contacted him, her life would spiral out of control. So now she knew that if she tried to contact her son, it would not be a pleasant experience. Not now, and not ever.

  “Tell me, mamma,” said Lucas Adam, hovering inches above the ground in earnest, flitting like a hummingbird. “What did I ever do to you that made you want to give up on me…a six-year-old kid? Did you hate me that much?”

  “No, honey…Adam,” said Evelyn. “That’s not at all how it was.”

  “Then tell me…how it was.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do. I love you. I’ve always loved you and will always love you. My heart was so empty when I had to let you go to your daddy’s, and then it was broken when you died. I could not live with myself. I couldn’t cope. I know I could have handled the situation better, but I made a mistake. I made a big mistake. People make mistakes, and you have to try to forgive them. You can’t just live with that anger and negative energy in your life. In life, you need to try to forgive and forget and move on. In death, you still need to forgive and forget, and you still need to move on…but to the afterlife. That’s why you’re filled with negative energy, Adam. You need to let it go, exhale all of that negative energy, and move on. You can’t hang around here being miserable and wishing harm on me. Move on, Adam. Move on.”

  After saying this, Evelyn was unable to get a feel for whether her son was buying it. This was something you would say to a reasonable person. She wasn’t sure about the reasoning ability of spirits, or six-year-old restless spirits, for that matter. They were personalities, and personalities have reasoning capabilities, but maybe something was missing. Maybe you needed the complete package on earth in order to reason. For the first time in her life, she was about to find out the answer to this very question.

  Carter and Brenda were frightened by what was happening right before their eyes. Even though Brenda could not see or hear what was going on, she was still fearful for her safety based on Evelyn’s actions. Evelyn was sweating profusely and her face was a brilliant red. She did not, however, appear to be a woman who was about to back down. She had dug her h
eels in and was about to challenge her son until he was moved into the safety zone. She knew that he had been cheated in life, but she didn’t feel that it was her fault entirely, and she still wanted to fight for him as a way to make amends.

  Evelyn lit some candles in an attempt to encourage her son to see the light and go towards it, having already planted the seed about bringing Martin with him. The flames of the candles did catch his eyes, and he was temporarily mesmerized by them. He was undoubtedly attracted to this light. You could see in his eyes that the flame was pleasing to him. Evelyn saw this as a good sign. Some of the darkness may have been escaping from his world; burned by the flames which attracted him closer to the light.

  Carter was witnessing this transformation, but was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see that Evan and Skippy had arrived. He was hardly surprised by the timing as his paranormal abilities tend to draw him to where the action was taking place. Lucas Adam was his son, too. He had custody of his son until that day when his wife and child were run down by that hit-and-run driver.

  Evan had the ability to see things, so when he walked into the house, he walked into a show. He was shocked, however, to see Evelyn in the room because it had been many moons since he saw her face. He reached out for his son, knowing that there would be no physical touch, but he could feel the warmth of his spirit. Lucas Adam’s spirit was warming up and hopefully preparing to move on out, but he had a bit of business to do.

  Seeing his true family together again was all Lucas Adam ever wanted in life, and he exited early without ever having the chance. He wasn’t mad at his parents for doing what they did. He had an idea that his mother was doing what she had to do, and his father was doing what he had to do. All he ever wanted was to be part of a family when he abruptly left this earth. The reason he was unable to move on to the afterlife was due to the fact that this wish had not been granted. It wasn’t meant to be, and it wasn’t going to be, so his passing into the afterlife was not going to be, either. The broken, dysfunctional family made him enraged.