Grave Danger

by K. E. Rodgers

  “I didn’t mean to cause ill will between you and your family, Corrigan.” She rubbed a spot along his shoulder blades. “You were right it was stupid and selfish of me to force your family to meet me. I don’t blame your brother for hating me. I’ve thought worst things about him.”

  Clarissa pressed her face against his shoulder, glorying in feeling his warmth against her cool flesh. He had a distinct, unique smell about him, like of earth and sunshine and the tropical breeze all rolled into one beautiful scent. “I’ll go home now and you can tell your family that you’ve regained your senses and kicked me rightly out on my ass.”

  “No,” Corrigan uttered the single word quietly, bringing his hand to hold her face close to him. She shared herself so easily with him. Every time she touched him, he felt that glow deep inside grow, spreading light and happiness and goodness throughout his body. It was too rare a thing to let slip away so easily.

  He stood up suddenly causing Clarissa to look up at him with a confused frown on her unearthly face. Corrigan bent down and pulled her up to stand in front in of him. Placing his hands on each of her shoulders he leaned forward to have better access to her face. Brushing his warm palm along her cold cheek he looked into the eyes of a forgotten angel.

  “They’ll just have to get used to you being here, so they might as well start now.” Corrigan then brushed his lips against her forehead. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He pulled back then. Taking her hand he led her down the path to the main house where he could already hear the agitation and curiosity coming in waves from their collective thoughts.

  ***∞***

  Clarissa had to admit she felt more than uneasy about meeting the creatures she had claimed in the past as monsters. Now after meeting and getting to know one of them, it was becoming more and more complicated to see them in the same light of evil. If it wasn’t for their unnatural want of living flesh and blood they would be considered a normal enough looking family; albeit the fact that none of them were related in the traditional sense. But even that could be overlooked. One small deviation in character and they were monsters to the world.

  The family, as Clarissa refereed to them in her head, sat along a plump old fashioned sofa, sat quietly on antique upholstered chairs or lined themselves up against the large cement and granite fireplace. One of them was reading intently in a corner window seat and another was sitting in a wing-backed chair polishing his sword like he was preparing to use it against some as yet unnamed enemy. The family; like a scene in a Mafia movie, they all had a distinct air about them that said quite clearly that no one messed with one of their own and got away with it.

  All were dressed as if they had just returned from the opera house or a five-star restaurant. The kind where the menu was entirely in French and the waiter refused to interpret any of the items on it so you’re forced to pray that you don’t order something icky or pronounce a word the wrong way, which will invariably incite the waiter who has since forgotten that he is only a waiter and not the Sultan of a small but extremely rich Middle Eastern nation. Corrigan had explained on the beach that Sundays were a day to remember their human pasts and to act accordingly. They didn’t cross the bridge and instead they ate a quiet meal at home; vegetarian style of course.

  Xavier looked up from where he was polishing his sword to see his younger brother sweep a young woman into the room. At once he was on his feet, his sword ready at hand.

  “Put the weapon away,” spoke a calm and lilting voice from one of the figures by the fireplace. Ambrose set his drink upon the mantle next to him as he turned to see his baby brother stand in the entrance to the pallor room holding the hand of a ghost woman.

  Xavier settled his sword to his side once again. Though his hand seemed to be poised readily should his brother change his mind and allow him to extract the ghosts head from her shoulders. It would be a most entertaining sight to watch her flounder around the room trying to retrieve it.

  “Come in, both of you.” Ambrose gestured to Corrigan and Clarissa. “Ladies,” he looked to the two women on the sofa, the other two sat near him in the upholstered chairs near the fire. “If you’ll allow this young woman to sit with you, Corrigan can take Xavier’s seat.”

  Corrigan brought Clarissa over to where Margaret Ann and Debora were reclining on the old fashioned sofa. Xavier’s seat was just across from them and his brother eyed him curiously as he moved aside and allowed him to have his chair. Xavier took up post by the pallor door in an old rocking chair. He sat rocking softly as he continued to watch Corrigan’s back.

  Clarissa sat between the two female flesh-eaters. She wasn’t sure if she should introduce herself or remain silent. Already she could see her presence alone incited most of the men and made the women nervous. She didn’t blame any of them. She was the odd one among them.

  “I’d ask what the hell you think you’re doing,” Ambrose continued once everyone had found their seats or places to stand. He looked over to Chas who leaned against the mantle next to him. “But it looks like someone already played that card to you. If for no other reason than just to amuse me, how do you plan to explain a relationship with this woman to the Eidolon council members? I can already assure you that none of them will think it a harmless liaison between two grown individuals.”

  Corrigan sat in his chair across from Clarissa who looked most uncomfortable situated between his two sisters, their faces held similar expressions. He looked to his brother and answered.

  “I’d say they can stuff it up their non-corporal asses.” Corrigan looked about the room, resting for a moment on each of their faces until he reached Chas’s grim expression. “Who I choose to associate with is none of their concern. I don’t dictate to anyone else, they shouldn’t feel inclined to make demands on me.” He watched as Chas looked away, glancing down at his wife, Helen, before focusing his attention on a particularly hot burning log in the fireplace.

  “That’s all well and good, Corrigan,” spoke up the man reclining on the window seat. Trueman placed the book he was reading down on his lap. His sandy blonde hair was slightly out of part and he was wearing his reading glasses. He didn’t need them anymore, but old habits die hard, or not at all. In his case, the use of plain glass set inside his old frames made Trueman feel more normal, if such a thing were possible for their kind. Trueman continued. He was by far the more understanding of all the brothers.

  “But you forget that you’re not a normal man and this woman, despite her most unique nature, is still one of them. They won’t allow this relationship to last. We are unnatural in their eyes and they wouldn’t want one of us to contaminate their perfect society.”

  “That’s not true,” Clarissa interjected. “Not if I tell them the truth. Corrigan isn’t the monster they think he is.”

  “And why would the Eidolon council believe you?” Chas asked with one hand fisted around the mantle, the other resting on the back of his wife’s chair. “What makes you think that any of them will believe that we aren’t soulless beasts? Even if you tell them differently, they already have it out for us. Your kind has always hated ours and they’d find any excuse to force us out of their city.”

  “He’s right,” Debora agreed. With her hands folded in her lap, she turned to look at the ghost woman next to her.

  It was still a little strange to find herself so close to one of her kind. Clarissa seemed so real sitting next to her and when Debora caught her making hesitant glances to her younger brother, she could see the colorless texture of her skin change, becoming more substantial as living flesh as if Corrigan’s very presence brought her out of her transparent and limited world. But she knew that others wouldn’t see this union as a blessing but rather a cruel blurring of the lines that had remained firmly intact up until now.

  “As much as we’d like to see you and our baby brother together, it isn’t possible. It would put our family at risk.” Debora glanced down at Clarissa’s hands which were also folded in her lap.

  �
��May I touch your skin?” Debora met Clarissa’s startled eyes which looked to Corrigan then back to her.

  “Debora,” Corrigan said warningly. Debora shushed him away with a wave of her hand.

  “Don’t be so overprotective, Corrigan. This young lady could easily knock me on my behind. I’m well aware that she can stand up to any foul beast that comes along.” A sly smile came into her eyes as she glanced over at Chas who was glaring at Ambrose who stood watching the scene play out between Debora and Clarissa. Ambrose made it a point to ignore his temperamental brother.

  “Isn’t that correct, Chas?” Debora teased her brother. He didn’t comment, but instead glared even harder at his brother, Ambrose, who still continued to ignore him and his volatile thoughts.

  “I don’t mind, Debora.” Clarissa lifted her hand so Corrigan’s sister could inspect her structure properly. Trueman might have been the scholar in his living days, but Debora had always had an inquisitive mind. She was more than a pretty doll on the arm of a man, she had a mind of her own that wanted to learn and absorb as much of the world as possible.

  Debora touched the back of Clarissa’s hand, feeling for the first time the texture of a ghost. It was a very unique sensation to touch a creature that despite the otherworldly coating of flesh, felt just as tangible as any other human. Clarissa’s skin was cold to the touch. Her own flesh ran warm and moved with the strength of her victims which made an interesting contrast to the silent exterior of Clarissa’s body.

  She made a prodding gesture to see if her finger would slip through the electrical layer of Clarissa’s skin. Corrigan made an agitated cough to get her attention. Deborah looked up to see her brother frowning most angrily at her.

  “I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t poke at her like she’s some kind of science experiment.”

  “Sorry,” Deborah murmured, pulling back.

  “Your hand won’t go through,” Clarissa explained. “Not unless I want it to. It’s how I can manipulate the physical world. But if I don’t concentrate or I’m being careless then tangible objects can pass through my system.”

  It was then that Trueman decided to join his wife in scientific investigation of the other kind.

  “Does your body absorb energy from the materials you interact with? Can you incorporate their energies into your own system or due to the nature of your anatomy does your body reject the corporal world?” Trueman came away from the window to stand behind the sofa.

  Clarissa thought he had a very kind face with long sandy eyelashes that were even more pronounced by the glasses. Though she could see they were merely glass and not true lenses inside the frames. Clarissa could also see that he was the scholarly one in the family. His wife, Deborah, however wasn’t too far behind him in inquisitive nature.

  “May I also see your hand, my dear?” Trueman inspected the delicate hand that was offered to him. He brought it close to his face to more closely study the chemical composition of her outer layering. He had always found ghosts to be a unique species in this world and he could clearly see that Clarissa was unique even within her own genus.

  “As long as you don’t bite, I don’t mind,” Clarissa said to Trueman, intending only to tease him as she watched as he brought her hand ever closer to his mouth. He even sniffed her hand, his eyebrows drawing down in a look of puzzlement.

  Corrigan was having about enough of his collective family member’s interpretation of Clarissa. Half of them wanted to slice her body up into little pieces and the other half would be more than happy to study those slivered bits of her to see how they worked. Clarissa was being more than amicable to people she had once deemed monsters and who took this moment to show how dysfunctional they could be in front of strangers.

  As if sensing his brother’s agitation, Ambrose moved away from his spot by the fireplace. “I think that will do for our first family get together, don’t you think?” He came to stand just in front of the sofa.

  Ambrose inclined his head in a manner long forgotten in this world. He placed a pleasant smile on his face for Clarissa. However, she could sense that he was feeling anything but pleasant thoughts inside. “I won’t ask to smell your hand,” he eyed Trueman darkly, who with a chuckle returned Clarissa’s hand back into her possession, “But I will ask, though, that you wait outside for a few minutes so that I might speak to my brother. I promise to return him to you.”

  Clarissa gazed upon the person that all these people looked to for answers. In the short time she had been among them all she had the opportunity to see inside each of them. She had made it a point not to intrude too deeply, only learning the basic aspects of them. Ambrose was a man, despite his youthful and boyish face, who was not someone easily overcome. He couldn’t have remained in this world as long as he had without the kind of intelligence and inner strength that he possessed in abundance. If she could win him over, she might just have a chance at the rest of them.

  “In one piece,” she said. Clarissa stood up from the sofa, finding her hand swiftly taken up by Ambrose’s heated hand. He bent down to place a kiss just above her knuckles before he pulled back, straightening. With a gentle pat to the back of her hand, he released it back to her.

  “In one piece,” he quoted back to her.

  Corrigan escorted her into the hallway where he took her down a ways until they reached an alcove in the wall. He sat her down on one of the wooden benches that lined the intricately decorated hallway. He gave her a waning smile as he left her to return to the pallor room.

  As soon as she heard the door click Clarissa reached around to remove her back-pack. Inside a side zipper was a small compact cell phone that Maddy had given her the other day should she need to contact her or in case of some emergency. She wasn’t going to call Maddy though, she was calling Leah.

  The outcome had looked grim with Candice loosing so much blood. If she had survived the night, it would be a miracle.

  Clarissa held the cell phone to her ear as she listened to some punk rock song that she couldn’t distinguish before Leah finally picked up on her end. Before Leah could even answer with a customary ‘hello’, Clarissa was already asking how Candice was doing.

  “She’s fine,” Leah said with a yawn. “As fine as anyone can be with a slashed throat. We’ve been staying close to her at the hospital to keep her with us.” Clarissa already knew that she meant her mother and grandmother. They were witches and with their own unique set of magick could likely be the difference between life and death for Candice Snow.

  “Where are you, Clarissa?” Leah asked, suspicion coating her voice. “I know you’re not at home, I already called Mrs. Connors house. I think she knows what we were doing. She had this note in her voice that made me think she could read my mind. I didn’t tell them you were with me tonight, but they’re looking for you.”

  There were several seconds of silence on both ends.

  “Whatever you’re thinking, stop. You can’t have him,” Clarissa could hear Leah walking outside the hospital, could hear cars engines as they passed. “You may think you can make something out of this, but it won’t work. You’re not his kind Clarissa, you’re a bokor. It’s your job to destroy him, not love him.”

  Leah was being too astute right now for her own good, or for Clarissa’s peace of mind. The truth of her words resonated throughout her system, but she pushed at it forcing it back into silence.

  Clarissa could hear what she could only call controlled chaos coming from the pallor room. Through the heavy wooden door she heard Corrigan’s voice raging over the others then Chas’s and then finally the sound of something fragile breaking.

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay Leah? Take care of Candice for us. I know you can do it.” Clarissa hung up the phone just as Leah started to say something else. She hadn’t given Leah much of a chance but she couldn’t tell her she’d crossed enemy lines, not yet at least. Not until she figured a few things out. But Leah already knew more than she should.

  Inside the pallor room
a tiny war raged.

  “You jerk!” Margaret Ann bellowed at Chas who stood over the glass shards of what remained of one of her treasured antique mind expanding paraphernalia, a rare find all the way from India. She didn’t use it anymore and instead had set it up on the parlor mantle as an interesting decoration.

  It was a real conversation piece.

  She bent down to scoop up what was left. It was unsalvageable. “You’re going to pay for that,” she yelled as she launched herself at her brother.

  Luckily for Chas, Xavier intervened as he grasped his wife about the waist and hulled her and her vicious teeth away from his brother. Holding her to him, he whispered soothing words into her ear. Her chest rose and feel with her deep breathes, but she allowed Xavier to hold her and calm her down.

  “This is insane,” Chas shouted. “See what that bitch ghost is making us do? She’s turning us against one another. She’s trying to set us up, I know it.”

  Corrigan went after his brother, ready to punch his lights out. If he said one more thing about Clarissa he was almost sure he would kill his brother. Ambrose stepped in to block him from his target.

  “Everyone needs to calm down,” Maude commanded the room. Following her husband’s lead she stepped in front of Corrigan, blocking him from attacking Chas. She knew why Chas was behaving so appallingly toward Corrigan. Of all the brothers, he was closest to Corrigan and Chas felt that if Corrigan chose this woman it would mean an end to their bond.

  “Corrigan,” she began once the room was quiet again. “You have to understand that this isn’t easy for us. Of all the women in the world, you had to choose her. You do make life difficult for yourself, don’t you?”