PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  Paul laughed. "You mean nothing is different? You sure? Hey, I'm glad you get all warm when you think of us and... last night. I do too."

  Sara, I'm gonna puke on my shoes if he asks me again. She took in a deep breath.

  Sara giggled. He's talking about Bart and the possession thing, but I don't think he knows you can talk to dead people.

  Oh! I forgot! Poor Paul! "I'm still the same person you took on that beautiful picnic in the park. All I'm saying is that I want to take it a little slower. That's all. Can you deal with that?"

  "Oh," Paul said and squeezed her hand, "I sure can." His chest puffed out. To Toni, he almost looked pleased. "We can certainly take it a bit slower, okay? Maybe date awhile before we get... too intimate."

  "BlessBartholomew'svoyeuristicnature, the boy's definitely put the seer and a few ramifications before 'is carnal urges, now 'asn't 'e?"

  "Cake anyone?" Belle shouted from the French doors

  Paul got up and pulled Toni with him. "Come on, I've been thinking about that ice cream cake since your mother called me earlier."

  "It's an ice cream cake?" Toni laughed.

  "Yep, chocolate."

  Screw the cake—we need to talk to Ruth. I want to figure out how to get rid of Bartholomew so I can get out of your body. We have a party to get ready for!

  Chapter Thirty-three

  It was Wednesday afternoon. Antoinette had left in a cab alone, after an amusing argument with her daughter. Belle had insisted on taking her mother to the airport and Antoinette wanted no part of it. The blast of a horn had ended the dispute. Gran had sprightly hefted her three bags, and with a wave and a smile, headed out to an impatient cabbie.

  Belle had gotten into another tiff with Toni when she tried to reason with her daughter in regards to Bartholomew. That argument had ended with Belle storming out of the house, headed for the local bookstore in search of some literature on seers to further Toni's education.

  Twenty minutes later, up in the guest room, another quarrel began.

  "I don't think I want to summon a demon, Ruth," Toni said, looking extremely nervous as she chided her sister mentally. A demon! What is she thinking, Sara?

  Rufus scratched at the door of the travel cage where he was held captive.

  Oh just get over it! You got the salt circle. He can't get out. Sara's words temporarily clouded Toni's rebuttal.

  "I'm thinkin' 'e's gonna be quite pleased with 'er offer, 'e is," Ruth said as she hovered over Toni, her hand tapping in and out o'Toni's shoulder. "It's not a frequent occurrence fer a demon ta'be afforded the ability t'ave a chance t'possess a seer-ghost, it's not."

  Martin glared at the cat that held Bartholomew captive. "You nasty, nasty man. The proprietor of the crypt doesn't do nice. You two should get along nicely."

  Rufus spat and hissed, throwing his body against the barred door.

  Just do it, Toni, because you're dog-meat if ya don't and I'm not spending another night in hell, Sara's voice echoed around the chambers of her mind.

  Toni looked at the circle of salt. The candles were burning, her blood spilled near each one to set the spell. She licked the small cut on her finger and her eyes played over the demon summon in the spell book on her lap. "I wish Gran were here. I don't feel comfortable doing this without her."

  "I'm 'ere, dear, blessyertroubledlittle'eart; just let me do all the talkin' when 'e gets 'ere, and I feel 'e's gonna be right pleased, 'e is."

  Rufus let out a horrific screech, his paws hammering at the cage door.

  Toni sucked in a breath and blurted out the summons,

  "From the otherworld, I call you here

  My blood protects; harm brings no fear

  A bargain, I wish to plea

  Azakeor, demon of lost souls

  Appear; I summon thee"

  Nothing happened. Everyone's eyes were riveted on the circle.

  Dammit all to hell! Read it again, Sara screamed between Toni's ears making her jump three inches off the bed.

  Toni's whole body shook as she started again, "From the otherworld-"

  The air crackled. Toni yelped. The wooden floor in the circle opened, and blackness swirled inside.

  The head of a man, covered in wild raven hair, over steel-gray eyes, floated from the chasm below. The creature had the massive body of a dog and when the oak planks closed under the demon, he stood upright on hooved hind quarters, like a human. Raking clawed hands through his black mane, the creature freed a snarled smile with jagged sharp teeth. "What do you wish of me?"

  Rufus sounded like a muscle car revving its engine.

  Shit! Ohmigod, Sara croaked, I sure hope that circle holds him.

  You are so dead if he gets out! Toni wiggled on the bed.

  Sh-yeah! Right? Can't get any deader, geek-girl!

  Oh, yes you can! I can send you down under with him! Toni warned, and then added, If I can find the spell in this stupid book!

  Martin cowered behind Toni and Ruth and waggled his fingers at the demon. "Hello again, sorry to have-"

  "Blessyerdementedsoul, we 'ave a spirit that may be o'interest t'ya, demon," Ruth cut in.

  Rufus let out a perfect Halloween-night wail.

  "And who might that be?" the demon growled in a deep gravelly voice, then licked his lips, while eyeing the carrier.

  "Bartholomew, an ancient seer ghost," Martin shrilled, his eyeballs wafting halfway through their lids.

  The demon stalked the circle, testing the perimeter with the claws on its paw. "And what do you wish in return?"

  Sara shuddered. Man, I'm glad I'm in here.

  Yeah and what if he gets out and grabs me? Toni thought, then pointed at Ruth and Martin over her shoulder and said, "They don't want to spend another night in your crypt."

  Gray eyes hooded, Azakeor snarled and lunged at the salt line only to bounce back to the center, landing on all four paws. He got up, hissed, and paced the circle. A long runner of gangrenous looking saliva rolled from his fanged snarl and pooled on the floor. "Where is the other spirit that visited my crypt?" he growled ferociously.

  I'm not coming out! Forget it! Just ain't happening, Sis. Sara's voice ricocheted around Toni's head.

  "Look, I'm . . . well, a necromancer," Toni said, "and Sara's inside of me to protect me from-"

  "Yes, well that's enough dear, blessyertrustin'nature, no sense in confusin' the issue," Ruth informed. "We 'ave the seer in that cat." Ruth pointed at Rufus, who hissed his disapproval. "And yer welcome t' 'im if y'promise never t'release 'im from the crypt, y'are. An since y'seem t'be gettin' the best end o'the bargain, we won't be answerin' no more questions."

  Martin sucked in an audible breath that started with a little squeak.

  The cat started scratching frantically on the latch of the cage.

  "Bring him out and place him before me," Azakeor demanded in a loud gravelly voice that echoed off the walls.

  Toni started flipping the pages of the book, looking for the crimson ribbon marking the spell that would release Bartholomew and place him in the circle. When she found it, she started the chant.

  Ruth raised a hand and stopped her. "Give it a moment, will y'dear, bless'iscunnin'nature, 'e 'asn't sealed the bargain, 'e 'asn't, an', why, 'e could just make off with the seer, if'n we don't seal said bargain."

  The demon threw his human head back and growled at the ceiling. He leapt to the edge of the salt line, landing on all fours in front of Ruth, and glared. "Very well, speak it; I shall seal it," he ground out.

  "Go ahead, dear," Ruth coaxed.

  "What? Me?" Toni yelped.

  "Since y'summoned 'im, y'need t'be the one makin' the request, y'do. Just state the pact o'the agreement that we helped y'pen out earlier, and make sure y'use all the proper names, etcetera."

  Toni pulled a scrap of paper from her book with shaky hands, cleared her throat, and read, "Azakeor, demon keeper of the crypt, I offer you the seer ghost, Bartholomew. In return you will dissolve the pact that you made with Ruth Welling
ton, Martin Perkins, and Sara Farrell. The three spirits will never have to return to the crypt by your command and Bartholomew will be held there for an eternity."

  Azakeor raised a thick black brow and asked, "And your name?"

  Toni's head jerked toward Ruth.

  "Go ahead dear, give 'im yer name," Ruth said with a nod of her head.

  Toni tuned back to the circle. "Um . . . it's Toni . . . I mean, Antoinette Kathryn Farrell."

  "Antoinette Kathryn Farrell, I grant your bargain and seal the pact with my blood." The demon sunk his teeth into his wrist, sucked noisily, and then spit black liquid that sizzled when it hit the floor. He sneered at Toni, lips dripping vile liquid. "Now give me the seer and dismiss me."

  Rufus rumbled.

  "Oh honey, I'm not cleaning that up," Martin informed with one hand over his lips, the other pointing at the smoking floor.

  Oh, hurry up, I want to get out of here and wring Martin's transparent neck! Sara said.

  Toni's eyes darted to Ruth, she nodded. Toni mumbled the chant, while tracing her fingers in the air like they'd practiced earlier.

  As Bartholomew appeared beside the demon in the center of the circle, Rufus meowed, looked stunned for a moment, and then began licking his paws.

  Bartholomew backed slowly away from the demon, his eyes locked on Toni. "You've made a terrible mistake. You don't know all that I can offer you-"

  "Yeah, yeah, give it up, Barf-boy," Sara said, as she wafted out of her sister's body. "Time to say bye-bye." She waggled her transparent fingers at him.

  Toni shook her head and weakly muttered, "Okay, so I guess you can leave now, Azakeor." I feel empty. Sara can you still hear me? She looked at her sister, but Sara just continued to glare at Bartholomew. Toni sighed.

  "And don't forget to take him with you," Martin yelped, pointing at Bartholomew.

  "You haven't heard the last of me. You can't change destiny, Toni," Bartholomew sneered as the demon raked his claws through the seer's floating form.

  "Sh-yeah, right? And thanks a bunch—see ya," Sara said, blowing him a smoky kiss.

  The floor opened, they fell into the blackness below, and the oak planks reformed cutting off the mingled roar of the demon and the livid shouts of Bartholomew.

  "Yessssss! And it's party time," Sara sang, doing her mini tornado thing as she whipped around the room.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  On the way to the party, Toni frowned into the rearview mirror and said, "I'm still worried about Gran."

  She turned to Sara, who floated in the passenger seat next to her. "I don't like that she wouldn't let Mom take her to the airport."

  "We shouldn't concern ourselves, we shouldn't. At least she didn't stop us from sendin' Bartholomew t'the crypt, she didn't," Ruth admonished.

  "Maybe not, but she wasn't acting like herself," Toni added, flipping the blinker on to make a left turn.

  Martin and Ruth, hovering in the back seat, exchanged a look of conspiratorial unease.

  Toni steered onto a long drive that led to a large brick building where dozens of vehicles were parked. She tucked her mother's car in between a Jeep Wrangler and a Ford Blazer.

  "Look, Sara, I don't care what your plan is for Jessica," Toni said as she stepped from the car and headed for Jessica's very impressive four-story home surrounded by acres of woodland. "But I'm not discussing any necromancer stuff with Paddy and Reggie unless I have to."

  Sara wafted from the roof of the car. "I don't care what you do. I have my own agenda," she informed, darting toward the house.

  Toni hurried along the driveway after her sister and spotted Paddy and Reggie standing on the porch in front of a set of huge stained-glass doors.

  "Jessica's so gonna hate herself when she wakes up tomorrow," Sara snapped, buzzing up the steps past Reggie and right through the doors.

  Toni hid her mouth behind her hand and spoke to the two apparitions flying beside her. "Follow Sara, and make sure she behaves until I get there."

  "This is so not going to be pretty." Martin clucked, whipping after Sara.

  "I wouldn't dilly-dally," Ruth looked over her shoulder as she followed Martin up the steps. "We'll do what we can, dear, but bless'erimpulsivesoul, yer sister is quite a handful, she is."

  Martin and Ruth wafted through the front doors as Toni climbed the steps.

  "Reggie brought the phone," Paddy said with a big smile. "You've got about fifteen minutes to do your thing and, if it doesn't work, she's gonna be all over Jessica."

  "Oh, I don't think it's gonna take that long," Toni mumbled behind a nervous frown.

  Reggie opened the front door and grinned. "Awful damn sure of yourself, aren't ya?"

  They stepped into a huge foyer and, before Toni could answer, a tall, thin guy, with stringy brown hair, dark eyes, cocoa colored skin and tight jeans, waved them on. "Third floor."

  "Thanks, been here, done this before," Paddy said and headed toward a spiral staircase at the back of the room.

  "Nice jeans," Reggie commented while eyeing the Silvertab label. The guy's eyes darted from her chest to her ass as she strode by.

  "Are her parents' home?" Toni whispered as they detoured around the staircase and headed down a hall.

  "They're never home," Paddy remarked as she stopped in front of a beautiful piece of grillwork etched in bronze over a metal door. She pushed a button on the wall and a grinding mechanical noise came from behind the grill work.

  "They have an elevator?" Toni asked in awe.

  "Yeah," Reggie said, "an' ten bedrooms, thirteen bathrooms, a huge library, an observatory, two living rooms—one just for watching movies—a den, a kitchen ta die for, and that was a ten-car garage you parked in front of."

  "I've known Jessica like forever, and I've never once been to her house," Toni said. "Sara has, but didn't mention how big and beautiful it is."

  The elevator opened with a soft chime and the three stepped inside.

  "Uh-huh," Paddy said, "and just like Jessica—good on the eyes, but it's just one big illusion of something special. I've only been here once, said I'd never do it again."

  "Yeah, the night they took that damn video," Reggie said, leaning against the far wall as the doors shut. She crossed her arms over a t-shirt that read, 'Come out, come out, wherever you are'.

  They rode in silence until the elevator stopped and the doors opened into one big room and the sound of Britney Spears belting out the lyrics to '3'.

  Toni's face turned bright red. She pointed and gasped at huge viewing screen suspended above the dance floor in the back of the room. "The video! Ohmigod!"

  "Damn, that's a fifty-two inch screen." Reggie laughed, stepping out of the elevator. "I'm the fricken' star of the party."

  Toni stepped into the room, her jaw hanging over her chest, eyes darting all over the place.

  The room was huge and packed with scantily clad teens that were gyrating on the dance floor or congregating in small groups, some laughing and pointing at the television screen, others seductively accepting food fed to them.

  On the far wall, a large picture of Sara, laid out in her casket, took center stage on a table piled high with eatables and wreaths of flowers.

  Couples were stretched across plastic lined couches or mats on the floor lining the sides of the room, applying, or eating food off exposed flesh. A few danced provocatively on parquet squares in the middle of the room, feeding each other; everyone absorbed in someone.

  "The Edible Sploshers," Paddy said with disgust, spreading her arms.

  "Are you hungry?" Reggie asked, her eyes twinkling at Toni.

  "My sister participated in this? It's so . . . public," Toni said, her nose scrunched up, eyes searching for Sara, "and so totally unhygienic, never mind disgusting."

  Reggie laughed. "I prefer . . . uh . . . some intimacy, but don't knock the food thing, till ya try it."

  Toni's eyes became large with embarrassment.

  Paddy pointed across the room. "There's Jessica." />
  Toni followed Paddy's finger and her eyes went from embarrassment to horror.

  Reggie snarled, "You've got about five minutes. Have at it."

  Toni sucked in a big breath and held it. Sara was stretched out in a prone position over Jessica and David, elbow resting on the back of the couch, hand halfway inside her chin, a big smile on her face. She was calmly watching her BFF who was lying on top of her ex, mouth covering his.

  Sara made eye contact with Toni, wiggled her fingers and gave her a thumb up. Then she kind of float-rolled off the back of the couch, hovered over Jessica, and, like an exhale of smoke played in reverse, slowly disappeared through one of Jessica's nose holes.

  Jessica bolted upward, straddling David, a brief look of horror on her face before she broke into a wicked grin and wrapped her hands around David's throat.

  "Oh shit!" Toni yelped and ducked behind Reggie.

  "Chicken shit," Reggie said with a laugh, pulling Toni around to her side with a small nudge toward the couch.

  Toni held her ground.

  David turned red in the face, trying to wiggle out from under who—for all intent and purposes—appeared to be, Jessica.

  "So you gonna do your thing?" Paddy asked. "Or do we send Reggie over?"

  "How 'bout we just hang here for a minute," Toni said. With her hand at her breast, Toni watched Jessica kneel on David's chest, grab a hand full of hair, and punch him in the face, drawing a good bit of attention and a trickle of blood. Half the kids in the room turned to look.

  "What the hell?" Reggie asked.

  Paddy covered her mouth and started laughing.

  Martin worked his wiggle as he stood in front of the couch, Ruth beside him. "Oh honey, we better back up, 'cause the shit's about to hit the fan."

  "Well, yes dear, while that's quite a disturbin' visual, its clarity rings true. Bless'ervindictivesoul, she's been waiting fer this moment, she 'as."

  Paddy gave Toni a slap on the shoulder. "Go on! Will you look at the manic bipolar queen!"