by Aiden James
Sara pointed to her EMF detector, where the readout jumped wildly from zero to double digits.
“David? Sara?? What’s going on up there??”
This time Miriam called to them from the base of the stairs, and the kids’ hushed voices echoed their mom’s edgy tone. She started to come upstairs with someone else—likely Janice.
“Don’t come up here—please stay where you are for now!” said Sara, harshly.
She motioned for David to open the door, pointing her infrared camera inside the doorway. Surprised when he met resistance from an invisible source within the darkened guestroom, like pushing against a door in a powerful windstorm, he allowed her to move in front of him.
Sara turned the overhead light on. It flickered and died, as if the spirit wrapped its hand tightly around the electric wires running through the attic above. In the dimness a thick ink-like shadow began to fill the room, obscuring the dresser.
“We come in peace,” she said quietly, her velvet voice tense. She backed into David, who was unwilling to venture into the room. “We’re here to retrieve some items belonging to the owner of this home’s aunt, and then we’ll be on our way.”
David looked at her, frowning, since what he wanted apparently wasn’t what she wanted. Yes, he desired the precious stones and trust papers from the room, left in haste earlier that day. But he assumed they came up here to find some way to remove the entity—to force the unfriendly pest out of this house, once and for all.
An ominous chuckle emanated from the depths of the room, and the door partially closed behind them.
“What do we do now?” he whispered to her, unsure how to proceed but one hundred percent certain their plans to explore the room had just been nixed.
This time it did seem like their thoughts were aligned. She led him out of the guestroom, capturing as much video as she could from her infrared. Just as he joined her in the hallway, the bedroom light came on. To their surprise the door swung open.
Does this asshole really think we’re going to step back inside the room again??
But he did approach the doorway, tentative, with Sara right behind him. When he stepped through the threshold the door crept open a little more—perhaps from a slight breeze caused by his movement…perhaps not. Maybe the spirit wanted to further intimidate them, as a worse feeling of being watched from all angles hit him full force. Sara’s fearful eyes scanned the room while snapping several photographs using a small standard camera she brought with her. Grotesque shadowed shapes crept across the walls like bloated giant insects with each flash.
While she seemed to grow increasingly nervous, his fear began to shrink. Rage swelled within him, fueled by all that had happened as of late. Seething with fury he moved about the room, focusing his heated thoughts toward the coldest and creepiest sections of the room. He pictured the spirit’s presence contained in these spots, and not surprised when the iciness moved out of his way.
“What’s wrong, you fucking coward?” he hissed, amazed at the level of contempt beneath his anger.
Sara had also been moving about the room, but now stopped, looking at him in horror.
“That’s right, you sick son of a bitch… Get the HELL out of my house!!” he roared, stomping around the bed, feeling exhilarated by the surge of energy brought on by his sudden bravado.
From what he knew previously about a malevolent ghost’s power and resolve, his brazen actions were a death wish. And when his rational mind regained the upper hand on his lower instincts, he worried about the response that would surely come.
The arctic grip that embraced the room began to recede, and the overhead lights in the room and hallway steadily regained their normal luminance. Sara smiled, still uneasy but giggling like a young girl.
“I believe the entity just left, David!” she marveled, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it! I would’ve never thought this was all it would take, and Lord knows it might still return. But for now… I feel it’s truly gone!”
She moved over to the dresser where the gemstones were still aligned in the curious snake-like symbol. She carefully scooped them up and placed the gems inside the front left pocket of her jeans, and advised David to gather the trust papers from where Miriam left them earlier. Miriam and Janice met them in the hallway.
“Is everything all right?” asked Miriam, moving to David’s side, her eyes worried for his welfare. “We heard you shouting from downstairs. Everyone else is waiting in the foyer.”
The air around them had already begun to get warmer, the heater’s efforts no longer hindered. Nonetheless she shivered. He pulled her close.
Sara repeated her belief that the entity had taken flight from the Hobbs’ beleaguered home, and they all returned downstairs. David glanced over his shoulder a few more times, but once they reached the main floor without further incident, he began to relax for the first time in over a week.
***
“I’d rather ya’ll just put the damned things in a safety deposit box—at least until you can get ‘em insured!” said Ruth, visibly irritated at David for insisting the best thing to do in regard to the diamonds and sapphires was let this stranger—this ‘medicine woman’ named Sara Palmer—take them with her. “It’s not like they can easily be replaced if something happens….”
He could tell the deluge of tears dammed up behind her genteel façade might burst through at any moment. Miriam sat beside her on the sofa with arms wrapped around her shoulders, telling her gently everything would be okay, that Sara was trustworthy. She added how she’d entrust the very lives of her children—the most precious things in her world, along with David—in Sara’s hands.
“Auntie…I swear on my very life that I’ll never let anything bad happen to our inheritance,” he said soothingly, stepping over to Ruth’s other side, where Janice was seated. For the moment the kids sat in the loveseat, Christopher practically sitting on Tyler’s lap. It appeared Jillian shared her great aunt’s viewpoint.
Sara sat in David’s recliner awaiting the outcome of this discussion, stroking Sadie’s neck while the dog lay on her lap. She smiled compassionately at Ruth, nodding empathetic to let her know she appreciated her concerns. She didn’t join the conversation until Miriam and David had convinced his aunt that the precious heirlooms would be safe in her possession.
“I promise to not let them out of my sight, and only allow my trusted friend, Dr. William Fuller, from the University of Denver see them,” she advised. “He’s one of the top parapsychologists in the country, and an expert in demonology.”
“Demonology?”
David’s brow furrowed while he sought to understand what expelling a pesky spirit had to do with ‘devils’ and such. It brought images of poor makeup and costumes from late night, B-rated horror movies. He snickered until he noticed the grave expression on Sara’s face.
“Yes, Demonology. Though it appears the mischievous spirit is no longer here, based on our previous experiences it’s imperative we proceed with utmost caution,” she explained. “The jewels seem to have formed a catalyst for the entity’s aggression today.”
David and Miriam nodded, thoughtful, while everyone else looked on. Sara’s somber words affected them all.
“Well, it’s getting late, and I still need to finish my Christmas shopping in the morning.” She got up from the recliner and reclaimed her coat and cap from the foyer’s hall tree. When she returned to the living room, she offered one last reassurance that everything would work out favorable to David and Miriam, and especially to Ruth. Janice walked her out to her pickup truck parked in the driveway.
“Don’t worry, Auntie,” said David, after watching Sara drive away through a window next to the Christmas tree. He moved over to where Ruth sat on the sofa. “Everything’s going to be fine. By tomorrow morning, the memory of what happened today will be behind us. It’ll be Christmas Eve—the start of a fantastic holiday together!”
He offered a warm smile and gave her a big bear hug, squeezing
her tight enough to draw a surprised squeal like the one from yesterday. When he drew away, she gazed into his face. Tears streamed down her cheeks. To most it might appear he’d deeply touched her just now. But he suspected some other reason. Yes, he could tell she was grateful for the newfound bond with him. But there was something deeper in her eyes…something obvious once he thought about it later, though hard to immediately define.
The ghost had left their midst, hopefully never to come back. Regardless, damage had been done. For the rest of her stay, Ruth Gaurni’er would sleep little. In the more comforting light of day, he’d catch her frequently looking over her shoulder as if waiting for some menace to come for her. The same unfriendly spirit, come back for yet another round with the Hobbs’ clan? Or, maybe some other thing…perhaps a thing worse… now quickened from her distant, secret past.
Chapter Ten
“See, Grandpa? I told you everything would be okay.”
Evelyn held the front door open to John’s cabin, wide enough to allow Hanna to move past them both. Careful to not bump into either one, Hanna’s arms were laden with fancy wrapped packages concealing gifts she and Evelyn purchased that morning from the largest shopping mall in Pigeon Forge.
John stood in the doorway, wearing a slight smile as Evelyn brushed past him to catch up to Hanna in the living room. He paused to watch his granddaughters, giggling near the Christmas tree he’d cut from the edge of his property yesterday morning with Evelyn’s help. The girls did a great job decorating the six-foot spruce late last night, long after the latest assault from the anisgina had passed. His only worry had been Evelyn’s insistence this morning to finish her Christmas shopping.
He couldn’t shake the fear of something worse befalling them after last night, when complete darkness engulfed the cabin for nearly an hour while the menacing spirit repeatedly sought entrance into his home. A longer assault than any before, it didn’t return…. Evelyn was right about that. This didn’t stop him from pacing between the living room and the kitchen until the girls’ safe return a few minutes ago, just after 2 p.m.
A more promising start to Christmas Eve than what he envisioned yesterday, John stepped outside and stood at the edge of the front porch, sniffing around him. For some reason the air seemed different today than it had lately. Hell, the entire area felt a lot more like it used to feel before all the excitement of the last few months. Even when the entity was absent, he’d learned to sense its trail. He could literally smell it—the anger, as well as its deep thirst for vengeance. But now he couldn’t sense it at all. Maybe it had finally finished its business and left for good. His smile widened at the mere thought of peace after a month of daily assaults.
“It’s gone, Grandpa,” said Evelyn from behind him. She had removed her goose-down vest that obscured most of the embroidered ‘University of Tennessee’ across the chest of her oversized sweatshirt before quietly joining him on the porch, smiling coy. “Whether this is truly permanent, we’ll have to wait and see.”
“Yes… we shall see,” he concurred. “I’ll be with you in a moment… we’ll need a few more logs for the fire tonight.” He moved over to the corner of the porch, where two stacks of split logs sat.
“Are you sure we’ll need more wood?” She motioned around her. The snow steadily melted in the unseasonable warmth embracing the Smoky Mountains since just before dawn.
“The forecast calls for new snow late tonight,” he replied, grabbing several logs and joining her at the doorway where she waited for him. “And the air should cool down again once nightfall arrives.”
She snickered while stepping back inside the cabin. “We’ll see about that!”
“Yes, we will,” he chuckled, closing the door and locking it right after he followed her inside.
Hanna was busy in the kitchen finishing a cheese ball, and Evelyn returned to her earlier task of setting up the dining table with other goodies. John quietly moved over to the table, hoping to begin sampling cookies, veggies, chips n’ dip, and Hanna’s soon-to-arrive cheese ball. The plan today was to snack on the table’s spread while a large pot of Evelyn’s venison chili simmered on the stove. His favorite dessert, the German chocolate cake discussed last night, would be the last treat bought to the table.
After a playful reproach from Evelyn, reinforced with a stern look from Hanna, John headed for his recliner with his first loaded plate, pausing to admire the glistening tree standing to the right of the fireplace. Hanna and Evelyn used a mixture of new ornaments they brought with them yesterday, along with the standard collection belonging to their grandmother, which John faithfully displayed each Christmas after her passing six years ago. A few bubbling-oil lantern lights drew his immediate attention, and he was hit by nostalgia, realizing how much he missed Susanne. Before the feeling of her loss could overwhelm him, he turned on the television and sat down.
The girls soon joined him in the living room, and after allowing him one college football game, they spent the rest of the afternoon watching holiday classics amid several trips by everyone to the dining table. When dusk arrived, John stepped over to the back door, lifting one corner of the door window’s sheer curtain to peer outside. He turned on the back porch light. The temperature outside already dropping, the frost that normally covered the porch at night would come soon.
Shawn crawled out of his domed dog house and approached the back door once he saw John looking through the window, wagging his tail at the prospect of some attention from his master. The husky’s demeanor was peaceful, without any hint of the skittishness from last night and of late. Instead of pawing at the back door like he usually did during most nights since Thanksgiving, he sat down in front of it, waiting for John to venture outside.
“Well, are you ready to come join us, my good boy?” John asked him, right after opening the door and stepping through it.
Shawn jumped up and placed his soiled paws on John’s flannel shirt. Unperturbed, John patted the dog on his head and gave him a good scratching under his neck while gently removing his paws from his chest.
“I’ll take that as a yes!” he laughed, unclipping Shawn’s steel chain from his neck.
Before returning inside, John scanned the perimeter of his property from the back porch while stroking the underside of Shawn’s neck again. Impossible to discern as much detail in the deepening shadows as earlier in the afternoon, especially for his older eyes. But the familiar oppressive feeling remained absent. Satisfied that nothing evil hovered near his home, he began to relax.
“Grandpa, it’s time to open some presents!” Hanna announced from the kitchen, where she refreshed her tea. “Be sure to wipe Shawn’s feet. I’d hate to spend the next hour getting his dirty paw marks out of the new sweater Peter bought me last week!”
She pulled on the bottom of the expensive olive-green sweater to show it off to John, who had failed to comment on it. He honestly couldn’t tell the difference between it and anything else she’d recently worn in his presence.
“Peter?” he asked while closing the back door, indulging one last look through the door’s window before securing the lock. He turned to face his youngest granddaughter who grinned mischievous. “I thought Evelyn said you’re dating a young man named ‘Tommy’.”
“I am…well sort of,” she said, pausing to cast a wry glance toward Evelyn, seated on the couch in the living room. “You always told us to ‘play the field’, right? To not get serious until we’re out of college, if I remember correctly.”
She chuckled when John’s initial response was to simply shake his head, wearing his own Cheshire grin.
“Enjoy your youth, that’s all,” he offered.
He turned his attention to the German chocolate cake that hadn’t been carved yet. Shawn trotted into the living room and curled himself around Evelyn’s feet. John removed a healthy slice, ignoring the girls’ amused reactions to the oversized helping.
“Because you might not have as much fun again until you’re old and gray like your gr
andpa.”
The playful glint in his eyes belied the fact he worried about either one settling down before they had a chance to explore their career options. That’s the mistake their mother, Joanna, made. Now she was the one acting like a teenager, chasing after her navy boyfriend while her daughters spent the Christmas holiday with John.
“We can only hope we end up with half of your energy by then, Grandpa,” said Evelyn, reaching down to pet Shawn’s head before rising from the couch and stepping over the dog on her way to the dining table. “Looks like Hanna and I had better get a piece of cake before you eat it all up!” she teased.
She took a much smaller helping from the cake plate, and Hanna followed soon after, taking a piece just slightly larger than her sister’s. Almost half of the cake had disappeared. Still teasing their grandfather, they followed him into the living room. As soon as they finished their dessert, Hanna took their plates and forks over to the kitchen sink while Evelyn retrieved her camera from the guestroom down the hall to the right of the fireplace.
Once the girls rejoined John, who in the meantime had been busy sorting the presents beneath the tree, he allowed them both to take a quick snapshot of one another posing with him and Shawn in front of the tree. Afterward, he had them both sit together on the couch while he handed them their presents, saving a couple each for tomorrow morning. His eyes grew misty watching them tear into the packages, so much like they’d done as little girls, seated on the very same couch that had since been reupholstered twice over the years.
Nearing nine o’clock, Hanna and Evelyn tried on the outfits they bought for each other and the jewelry John gave to them that once belonged to their grandmother. Especially touched by the charm bracelet she received, Hanna had been fascinated with several of the silver charms as a young child. John surprised Evelyn with a diamond pendant that originally graced the neck of his late wife’s great-grandmother, the daughter of a prominent nineteenth-century German aristocrat.