The Witches Ladder

by Wendy Wang

  Charlie sighed and nodded. She just didn't know how to tell him that it was a ghost that did it. She quickly wrote, “Are you here to take my statement? Where is Jason Tate?”

  Billy read her note and nodded his head. He always reminded Charlie of a basset hound with his long face and dark soulful brown eyes. “I am.” He pulled a notepad from his front breast pocket, along with a silver ballpoint pen. “I think Jason's off duty already.”

  A soft pang in her heart made Charlie touch her fingers to her breast bone.

  “You all right?” Billy asked.

  Charlie gently tapped her fingers against her solar plexus and gave him a weak smile and mouthed, “I'm fine.”

  Billy poised his pen against his notepad. “So, what do you remember?”

  Charlie put her pen against paper trying to decide exactly how much of the truth to tell him. If Jason had come, she wouldn't have to be lying to the police, but she didn't want anybody wasting their time trying to find her attacker, because she was the only one who could see him. Me and maybe Tom, she thought. Another soft pang squeezed her heart.

  She wrote, “I didn't get a good look at him. He was in the backseat. All I remember is starting my car and then being choked. I must've passed out.”

  “Well your purse and the other valuables were still in the car when we got to the scene. So it doesn't appear to be a robbery. There anybody that you can think of that might be upset with you or --” Billy gave her a sheepish look. “Do you have any enemies, Charlie?”

  Charlie's eyes widened at the question. Did she have any enemies? Obviously none that were human. She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head to indicate that she didn't know.

  “Yeah, that's what I thought,” Billy said.

  “Billy,” Jen said. “Maybe you should check with the bank and see if they have any cameras.”

  “Oh, yeah that's a great idea,” Billy said scribbling it down his notepad. “Charlie do you know if they have security cameras in the parking lot where you work?”

  Charlie nodded and pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Bless Billy's heart, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed that was for sure. It made her long for Jason to be asking her these questions.

  Charlie scribbled down a name in her pad and tore out the sheet and pushed it toward Billy.

  “Is this the person I should talk to?” Billy asked.

  Charlie nodded. She really could see why Lisa would prefer Jason over Billy. Not that she approved.

  “Okay. Well I'll pull the video and see what we can find out. Maybe we can find this guy breaking into your car.”

  Jen patted Billy on the shoulder. “That would be great. How are you doing Billy?”

  “I'm doing fine. How about you, Jen?”

  “So, same old, same old.”

  “All right, well now we all know that we're doing fine,” Jack interrupted. “There anything else you need here Billy? Because we'd like to get this little lady discharged and home where she can be comfortable.”

  “No, sir. I think I've got everything I need. thank you.”

  “Alrighty then. You have a good night, Billy.”

  “Yes sir.” Billy closed his notebook and slipped it and his pen back into his front breast pocket. “Y'all have a good night.” Billy headed toward the door then turned around abruptly as if he had forgotten something. “Oh yeah, Charlie, if you remember anything else, you know, don't hesitate to call me here, okay?”

  Billy pulled a card from his front pocket and slipped into Charlie's hand. She took it and held it close to her chest.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed.

  “You take care of yourself, Charlie.” Billy gave her a quick nod and a smile. “It was good to see you, Jen. You too, Dr. Holloway.” He turned and left the room. Jen let out a loud breath.

  “Wow. I did not expect to see Billy Eisener today.”

  “I never expect to see Billy Eisener,” Jack quipped. He reached over and gave Charlie's foot a gentle squeeze. “I'm gonna go see if I can figure out what's taking your doctor so long. I'm sure you're ready to get out of here.”

  Charlie gave her uncle a soft smile. Jack winked at her and disappeared into the middle of the ER chaos.

  “I think he misses coming to the hospital every day,” Jen said thoughtfully as she watched her father mill around the nursing station.

  Charlie quickly scribbled onto her notepad, “Would you do me a favor?”

  Jen took the pad and read it. “Anything, sweetie.”

  Charlie wrote, “Would you please text Jason and tell him what's happened?”

  “Of course,” Jen said. “Is there anything else?”

  Charlie shook her head no and laid her head back on the pillow. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if Jen knew anything about Lisa and Jason, but she didn't have the energy to write it out. Instead she closed her eyes and whispered, “I'm just gonna rest a minute.”

  “Good idea.” Jen patted Charlie's leg and sat down in the plastic and metal chair near the bed. “I'll be right here if you need me.”

  Chapter 4

  Charlie curled up on the couch in her tiny living room, her head and throat aching dully. She rested on one of the big, fluffy floral pillows with her head cradled in her elbow and the remote control to her TV nestled in her other hand. The discharge sheets from the hospital were laid out in front of her on the trunk that she used as a coffee table. Along with a bottle of aspirin and a large glass of ice water. The ice had mostly melted. Charlie knew she should finish it up and just go to bed; it was getting late. She finally had to kick Jen out an hour ago. She flicked the television off and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She stood up and grabbed her glass and the bottle of aspirin and headed toward the kitchen. She took two aspirin from the bottle and washed them down with a large swallow of the cold water before emptying the glass in the sink, giving it a quick scrub with the brush and leaving it to dry in the drainer on the counter. The knock on the door made her stop in her tracks. She rolled her eyes.

  “Dammit, Jen,” she muttered under her breath as she walked to the front door. Charlie flipped on the porch light and pushed the eyelet curtain aside and peered through the window. Her eyes widened and she quickly undid the deadbolt. She pulled open the door and found Tom Sharon standing on her top step.

  “I come bearing gifts,” he said. He held up a paper bag with the Kitchen Witch logo on the side. “Chicken soup. I hear it's the best in the county and cures what ever ails you.”

  He smiled and Charlie couldn't help but be enchanted by his charm. She touched her palm to her face then shifted it to cover her throat. “Tom,” she whispered hoarsely. “I look so awful.”

  Tom smiled. “You look fine. You've been through an ordeal.”

  “How did you even –” Charlie rasped but she already knew the answer.

  Tom shrugged. “It's a small town.” He smiled slyly. “And Jen texted me.”

  “Right. Jen,” Charlie whispered, nodding. She took a step back and gestured for him to come inside.

  “I don't want to keep you. She told me you can't really talk but I did want to check on you. See if you're all right and see if I could help. Since your attacker was --”

  Tears stung the back of her throat and Charlie clenched her jaw to stop herself from crying. Jen had asked her if she was all right a hundred times tonight and every time she had sighed and nodded her head and scribbled, “I'm fine, really,” onto a pad.

  She should've answered Tom the same way. They were friends again and she enjoyed his company tremendously. But when he asked if she was all right, she could not find the words to answer because saying, “I'm fine,” would have been a lie.

  “It's all right,” Tom said. He placed a hand on one of her shoulders and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I can see that you're not. Why don't you have a seat. I'm going to put this in the kitchen. Unless you'd like some now.”

  Charlie shook her head, afraid if she whispered one word she would burst into tea
rs. Tom offered her a smile but there was no pity in his eyes and for that she was thankful. She sat back down on her couch and grabbed one of the small, solid-colored pillows, hugging it to her chest. She listened as Tom opened the refrigerator and put the soup inside. It was strangely comforting to have him here.

  “I'm sorry I didn't come sooner,” Tom said. “Where should I put this paper bag? Never mind, don't answer. I see you have a basket for them on the top of the refrigerator.”

  Charlie smiled as she listened to him fold it up and slide it into the basket. A moment later he turned the corner with a wide smile on his handsome face. “Is there anything else I can do for you.”

  Charlie shrugged her shoulders and croaked out, “Yeah.”

  “What?”

  “Could you stand guard?” Her voice broke on the last word. The tears hit her harder than she ever expected. She leaned forward and put her hands over her face.

  “Oh my God, Charlie. Come here,” he said, taking a seat beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She let him pull her to him and she buried her face against his shoulder. She wept, letting all the fear and confusion and anger out.

  “He said he'd be watching me,” Charlie whispered.

  “This place is locked up tight, Charlie. Jen and Evangeline have seen to that. No spirit is going to get to you here.”

  “He can't cross the boundary but he can get to me in my dreams.” Charlie pulled away from him and looked him in the eye.

  Tom pushed a stray hair behind her ear. “I can stay if you want. Stand guard all night.”

  She hesitated, clearing her throat, making it ache more. “I was only half-way joking. It's a lot to ask.”

  “Only if you're human, which I'm not. It's not as if I need to sleep.”

  Charlie sniffed and gazed into his golden brown eyes. His breath was sweet and warm on her face. “I've always wondered about that.”

  Tom smiled and brushed a tear from her cheek. “You know you are welcome to ask me any questions about that sort of thing. It won't bother me in the least.”

  “Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.” Charlie forced herself to sit back further, fighting the natural magnetism between the two of them. He was not human, she reminded herself. She could not allow herself to love him. She smiled weakly and touched her throat. Tom nodded as if he'd read her mind.

  “Well, I guess I'll be going then. But I won't be too far. If I'm out of this skin, and you call my name aloud, I'll come.”

  “How often are you out of your skin?” Charlie asked. Tom smiled slyly but didn't answer. “What? You said I could ask.”

  He pursed his lips and chuckled. “More often than I'm in it. How's that for an answer?”

  “I'll take what I can get.” Charlie pushed to her feet and crossed her arms. “Thank you for the soup and for the breakdown.”

  Tom stood up and put his hand on her upper arm. “Any time. Remember what I said.”

  “I will. Thank you,” she croaked.

  Charlie heard clucking and it roused her from her sleep. At first she thought she was dreaming when she sat up and found Penny the chicken roosting on her footboard. Charlie sat up in bed and stared at the apparition of the chicken.

  “I still don't know how I'm going to help you,” she said, her voice raspy and sore-sounding. She touched her neck and the muscle was still tender but it felt as if some of the swelling had gone down. She got up and dressed. Then ambled into the kitchen to make coffee. The wood floor was cold beneath her feet. She took the carafe from the coffee maker and filled it up with water. She glanced out the window toward the wide expanse of green grass. The sun was not quite up yet and the soft layer of fog rippled across the wide expanse of grass. In the gray light near the edge of the woods she thought she saw Tom and his reaper form drifting like a black shadow along the boundary of trees. A soft breeze blew the Spanish moss and she could almost see his robes ripple in the wind. He had stayed all night. Just as he had said he would. She wondered if it had been within his power to keep her from dreaming. And she made up her mind to ask him the next time she saw him. She finished filling the coffee maker with water and lined the inner chamber with a filter before scooping her dark Vienna roast into it and pressing the button. It gurgled and began to drip and she headed toward the bathroom to take a shower. A knock on the door startled her and she grabbed a sweater off the hook by the front door and shoved her arms into it to cover up her tank top before opening it.

  Jason Tate stood on her front stoop with a worried look etching deep lines into his face.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Why haven't you answered me?”

  “What are you talking about?” she said in a froggy voice.

  “I have been calling and texting you all night. I almost came over here. And I would have to done if Jen hadn't told me not to. Can I come in?”

  Charlie stood back and gestured for him to enter. He sauntered in glancing around as if he were looking for something.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “I'm sorry I didn't get to the hospital before they discharged you.”

  “That's okay. I didn't expect you to come,” she lied. “Do you want some coffee?”

  “No,” he said. Sounding agitated. “I want to know what happened.”

  “Well I want some coffee,” she said. “And I'm not supposed to be talking a lot. I'm supposed to be resting my voice today. I have to call in a few minutes and let my supervisor know I'm not coming into work. And I need you to be quiet when I do that. God knows I don't want her to think I'm playing hooky.”

  “I'm sure nobody at your work thinks you are playing hooky. They should be praying that you're not going to sue them for not having a security guard walk you out.”

  “Security guard wouldn't of been able to help me,” she scoffed. And headed back toward the kitchen. Jason followed her through the living room and into the small cozy kitchen. Charlie pulled a mug down from one of the open shelves and poured herself a fresh cup of coffee. “Have a seat.” She gestured to the small bistro table and grabbed the carton of half-and-half out of her refrigerator.

  “Why wouldn't a security guard have been able to help you? You were attacked in their parking lot.”

  “Because I wasn't attacked by human being. At least not a living one.” Charlie poured a generous dollop of half-and-half into her coffee and then took four scoops of sugar from the pink sugar bowl on the table. When she looked up all the color had drained from Jason's face.

  “Are you telling me a ghost did this?” he said, incredulous.

  “That is exactly what I'm saying,” she said taking a long sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes and savored the bittersweet flavor.

  “What the hell?” he said. “How could a ghost do that to you. You have physical bruises on your neck.”

  “I know,” Charlie said. “He was pissed. He said I killed him. Which is ridiculous. He also said he would be watching me. Which is unnerving.”

  “Do you know who he was?” Jason asked, his tone softening.

  “Sort of,” Charlie said. “I was going to come talk to you about it today actually.”

  “Who was it?”

  “Remember I told you that I found that teenager in my car the other day?”

  “Yeah,” Jason said.

  “It was her father. Which means that he's dead. The question I have is whether she had anything to do with it.”

  “Did he say anything to you about how he ended up dead?” Jason asked

  “Well, we didn't sit down and have a conversation, if that's what you're asking. He was a little busy concentrating all his energy on choking me to death.”

  “Could he have done that? Killed you?”

  “I don't know. Maybe. I told him I had a son and that made his energy falter. If he'd been a truly evil bastard then maybe.”

  “He choked you. That makes him pretty freaking evil to me,” Jason said.

  “No. Not all spirits are evil. A lot of the time they're just misguide
d. He really did believe I killed him. I just don't know why.”

  “Do you think he'll come after you again?”

  Charlie took in a deep breath and blew it out. “God, I hope not.”

  “Is there anything Jen or Evangeline can do?”

  “This property already has wards all along the boundary.”

  “What does that mean? Wards?”

  “They're basically objects that ward off evil spirits and demons. I don't even think vampires can penetrate the boundaries around this property.”

  “Okay, now you're just screwing with me.”

  “Okay,” Charlie said smirking. “Whatever you say. Anyway nothing outside this property is getting in. The only possible thing left for her to do would be to put a binding spell on the cottage. But that could be more trouble than it's worth. It could keep me from going out.”

  “Well I guess you know what's best.” Jason sighed. “I guess you probably not up for helping me, huh?”

  Charlie shook her head and chuckled. “Let me call my boss and tell her that I'm not coming into work. And then I'm all yours.”

  “Then it will be like you really are playing hooky,” Jason teased.

  “Hush,” she said. “Do you want me to help you or not?”

  Jason held his hands up in surrender. “You know I do.”

  Charlie followed Jason into the sheriff's station. She had carefully applied cover-up, powder to her throat and then tied a pretty yellow and green scarf around her neck, trying to hide the bruises. The last thing she wanted was for Marshall Beck to give her a hard time. Jason signed her in and grabbed the working folder from his desk and ushered her into one of the nearby interrogation rooms. Charlie sat on one side and he sat on the other. He opened up the folder and slid a small plastic bag with the words Evidence printed on it across to her. Charlie's hand drifted to her throat and a feeling of nausea waved over her. Darkness emanated from it, glowing black and thick. There were so many emotions that swirled in that blackness. She didn't want to touch it. Even with it bound up in plastic.

  “You okay?” Jason asked.