by Merry Brown
“The Knowers grew more and more competent at using new technologies. Many inventions we here witnessed firsthand, and some even oversaw their development.”
There were nods across the room. Lizzy told me her brothers and sisters sometimes took the role of muse.
“Technology cuts both ways, though. It’s helped the wraiths too. As the Knowers began to communicate with each other in faster and easier ways, so could they. As the Knowers began to move across land and sea with ease, so could they. That’s when the real trouble began.
“Much more can be accomplished using the strength and resources of a community than alone. The older wraiths knew this, but how could the vicious live together?
“To this end, the wraiths began developing an elaborate system of rules, the violation of which held the stiffest of penalties.
“Did Lizzy tell you we have no need for little rules and laws?” she asked, interrupting her story.
“Uh, no, not really,” I replied looking up. I’d been staring at the wood floors, looking for a pattern I knew wasn’t there, trying to put their story into the world I thought I knew.
“You know the big one, of course,” she said with a laugh, waiting for me to recite it, though I had no idea what she was talking about. I just smiled back.
Lizzy said, “You know we can’t eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil.”
Right. I wasn’t sure if there really was a tree or if it was still there. Mystery solved.
“Anyway,” Eva continued, “since we have the virtues, Beauty laid down the basic guidelines and we follow them. The most basic and foundational of all is love. We are commanded to love, and so we seek out ways to live the law of love.
“The wraiths, on the other hand, are not honest, cannot keep promises, and are completely self-absorbed. They would just as soon turn on each other than on their intended prey. The Book of Rules serves to keep them in line, to keep them obedient to the wraith lord they’re under. If they violate the ever-growing ordinances they are bound to, they are sent back.”
“Sent back? Where do they come from and where do they go?” I asked, completely immersed in her tale.
Andrew walked in the room and answered, “We’re not sure about them. Chaos is their home, though they hate it more than they hate this world. They are insufferable creatures that are never content. They find and torment Knowers just as they are tormented. Their suffering is never ending.
“Though we’ve fought them for many years, we’ve never captured one. They cannot stand beauty, they flee it always. They don’t just hate us, my brothers and sisters; it seems they cannot stand our presence.”
“And so you fight them?”
“’Fight’ is a loose term for what we do, though that’s what they call us, ‘fighters.’ We send them back. Well, when they are not in bodies we send them back. When they have taken over a dead body, we break the body first and then send them to the void,” Andrew said without a hint of anger, or enjoyment. The wraiths thought of these “fighters” as mortal enemies, but they didn’t seem to see things that way.
I looked around at these sweet, mild beings. Breaking bodies seemed the last thing they’d be capable of. Still, I remembered Lizzy at the gas station. . . .
Andrew continued, “When they first became embodied, they were always solo, or with one partner. Now, with the advance of technology and their Book of Rules, they increasingly flock together. Each one of us can take on half a dozen wraiths rather easily,” he said in a matter-of-fact way, like he was giving a weather report, “but just as we have grown over the years, developing techniques to banish them, they have recently discovered a few strategies to stop us.”
So then Lizzy could be hurt? Did he mean killed?
My anxiety level began to climb. Before my face completely gave me away Andrew said, “Peace William. None of us have been seriously damaged by a wraith, though they have figured out how to overcome us and thwart our efforts.”
Long silent at my side, Lizzy jumped back into the conversation. “Numbers used to be of no consequence. If we encountered a nest of wraiths, they would scatter, always running from us. It has only happened a few times, but lately, if a bunch of wraiths encounter one of us, they rush us.”
“What good does that do?” I asked. It made sense to me why they’d flee, but rush these fighters?
“They try to overwhelm our shield. Like leeches they throw themselves on us, trying to break down our defenses. When this has happened, whoever was attacked—and losing – was sent to a safe place to recover and regroup. Many wraiths are lost in these attacks, but with each success, they’ve become bolder.” Her face was thoughtful, far away as if remembering.
“We have many advantages,” Lizzy continued. “First of all, they cannot kill us. No matter how severely they wound us, we are taken out before any permanent damage occurs. Second, we can recognize them, but they can’t recognize us. If we are around an embodied wraith for a period of time, they might come to suspect our presence, but they wouldn’t know, not until we reveal ourselves. Last, and most importantly, we are on the winning team. Truth and beauty will always win. Beauty will redeem us all.”
And everyone in the room stood up and repeated the chant, “Beauty will redeem us all.”
After this brief history many of her brothers and sisters left the room, back to their various pursuits.
“Will, do you remember the night of Sue’s dance?” she asked, looking at me earnestly.
“Yeah.” Of course I did, it was the day I met the real Lizzy.
“Remember what happened to Monica?”
And then I knew what she was going to say, impossible as it was.
“Well, you never met Monica, Will. The real Monica died three years ago. She’d run away from home and, never went back – stabbed, we think. That thing at the party was one of them, a wraith.”
Before I could wipe the shock off my face she continued.
“And that’s not the only wraith you’ve encountered,” she said with tears in her eyes. I put my arm around her, waiting until she was ready.
Andrew came over and sat next to us on the couch, picking up where Lizzy stopped. “Will, you need to know all this. Lizzy discovered, as quite a shock, that you are living with a wraith.”
Living with a wraith? What did that mean?
It took just a few minutes to process what he said.
My father. A wraith? Impossible. No – entirely possible. Though I couldn’t get my mind around this label, I knew he was something other, something big, bad, and definitely evil.
Understanding crossed my face as Lizzy said, “Remember when I was at your house and your dad came home early? Well, I’d been hanging out with you and my shield was down,” she admitted with an uncomfortable grin. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Andrew wince. “As soon as I saw him I knew he was one of them. I also knew he wasn’t just your average run-of-the-mill wraith. I consulted with my family here, and then in Eden. An investigation ensued. Just today we found out what we needed to know.” She looked up and nodded, giving some direction to a few of her brothers still in the room.
She began again, taking both of my hands in hers, “The creature you’ve been calling father is an old and incredibly powerful wraith lord. Your actual father died in the car crash that claimed the life of your mother and sister.”
A very curious thing happened as she said those last words. I broke out in a smile. I couldn’t help it. As the words sank in, my smile grew larger.
I suspected her brothers were called to help calm me down, to impart peace to me.
But I had peace, finally.
It was, at last, confirmed that what I dreamed was true. My dad did die in the crash. The dad of my memories, the one who loved me with his whole heart, who ran countless charities, who played and laughed with me, who liked me, whom I looked up to. My dad, my real dad died. This other was an imposter. I’d always known the man who emerged from the wreck wasn’t my real dad, but some monster - I
just never imagined this to be literally true.
I felt like I’d been set free. Seeing the last seven years of my life from this new perspective changed everything. I wasn’t crazy. My dad didn’t turn on me, he wasn’t evil.
I wanted to jump up and high-five everyone in the room. I wanted to strip down and streak through the neighborhood; I wanted to . . . kill the imposter.
My elation turned quickly to absolute fury as I realized what he’d done to my father’s name and reputation.
“What is it, Will?” She didn’t understand my peace or why it turned so quickly to rage.
I was on my feet, heading for the door. “I’m going to kill him!” Every pore of my being was aching for revenge. I would make him pay for what he did to my father’s name, to me . . . to my brother!
I was at the door, but Andrew was quicker. I thought about fighting my way out, but I was much too angry to effectively achieve my goal. Instead I turned back around and sunk to the cold hard floor. My stomach was in knots, churning acid I could barely keep down. I sat there, quietly, for a long time.
How do you absorb this kind of revelation? What was I supposed to do, think, feel? I was utterly conflicted, vacillating from relief to bitterness to hatred to sorrow to relief. My mind was stuck in a loop.
As I sat there thinking – trying not to feel – my sanity slowly returned.
My mouth was dry and parched so I headed to the kitchen for a glass of water, alone. No one followed me, giving me space.
The kitchen was dark and quiet. The water was cool and settling, bringing awareness of my body. I’d felt as if my mind had detached from my body and was floating, hovering.
But now, as I drank and looked at the moon through the sliding glass door, I began to feel myself again. A whole self. A self that was in darkness, always groping to make sense of the senseless. Now the world, my life, clicked.
I laughed. John was into Area 51, life on other planets, and all things alien. He was convinced there was no way we were the only sentient creatures that existed. He was right, but just not about their location.
There were other beings, lots of other beings, but not out there somewhere. They were here, right under our noses—some for ill, some for good. But one thing’s for sure, we were not alone.
Through the kitchen wall I could feel Lizzy’s family doing their thing, healing me from the inside out. All of their powers at work together created a steady low hum as they glued me back together.
I walked back to the living room a different person than the one who left. I was not the boy who heard of the masquerade and wanted revenge. I was not just the helpless child whose childhood had been stripped from him by an evil creature.
I’d passed through some right-of-passage. The world looked brighter and bigger and more serious than before, and I saw my place in its order. I would be one creature, among many, who would side for good, or Beauty, as the fighters say.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked indifferently as I plopped down on the sofa, taking Lizzy’s hand. She was searching my face with worried eyes.
“Uh, depending on when the rest of my siblings arrive, we’re going to attack your place and . . . .”
“Send back whatever’s inside,” Andrew finished.
“All your siblings? Here?”
“No, not all. We need about 15 more. That should be enough.”
“I don’t get it. I thought they can’t harm you, so, why do you need so much help?”
“It has to do with this new technique of theirs. Instead of fleeing like they used to, when we find them in a nest they swarm. Many of them are lost that way, but they achieve their end, sending us back to our home. If too many rush us at once we become overloaded and can’t function.”
“So, when is this going to take place?”
“Maybe tomorrow night, but probably the 1st or 2nd.”
I could wait that long for some kind of justice to be served. But where did that leave me tonight or tomorrow night? My father, I mean it, was back and waiting for me. If I didn’t show tonight it would be sure to follow through on its threat and hurt the Richardsons.
And that was not going to happen.
I was really stuck. If I told Lizzy what it said, how it threatened me, she might act tonight and get hurt in the process because they would be outnumbered.
I decided to say nothing, make a brief appearance at home for its benefit, and sneak out the window, maybe sleep in my car. It hadn’t touched me in seven years; surely tonight I’d be safe.
It was getting late so I said my goodbyes. Lizzy followed me out to the car. “Are you okay William? I’m so sorry about all of this. I just feel terrible about it.”
“Please don’t because I don’t. I grieved for my dad a long time ago. I’m actually relieved, joyous almost – if I wasn’t so angry – to know that I’ve been living with an imposter. And not just any imposter, but an actual supernaturally evil thing, parasite. My entire world makes sense,” I said smiling at her.
I leaned down and kissed her head, whispering, “Thank you for everything, and promise me Lizzy, don’t worry about me. It’ll all work out.”
“You say that now. I’m just nervous how you’ll feel when it’s really over and he’s gone for good. Don’t you feel any affection for him?”
“None. How could I? It was as if my father had undergone a brain transplant on that February night. And now I know he did. Something else took over his body when he left it behind. I feel nothing but shear disgust and hatred towards whatever that thing is.”
“Really?” she half-asked, half-stated as she looked into my eyes.
“I’ve known for a long time my dad would never be who he once was. I mean, yeah, sure, I wish you’d told me he was possessed and you were going to pull that sorry-ass demon from his body. I wish, I wish I could have him back. But he really is gone, has been gone, and isn’t coming back, is he?”
“No,” she whispered, a tear running down her face.
“This fight that’s coming, all I can say, the sooner the better.”
And why couldn’t it be tonight? I wanted to add, but held my tongue. I’d just about escaped without Lizzy suspecting my plan to stop by my house, no need to tip her off now.
I drove off, leaving her standing there, watching me from her driveway. I wanted no trace of me at the Richardsons’, so I quickly packed my things, said ‘Thank you very much’ to Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, told Michael I’d explain later, and went with a mixture of fear, anger, and excitement to my house for the last time.
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Killing Day
As I drove through the Bakersfield streets, I thought of my real father. I remembered his laugh, his kindness, his love of the world, his love for me. I was lucky to have such a dad, even if only for a short while.
I’d lived through seven years of hell that was finally coming to an end. I had Lizzy in my life and the truth about my past.
I felt a twinge of guilt going to my house knowing she wouldn’t want me there. Didn’t I trust her enough to tell her my father returned and demanded I do the same?
It’s not that I don’t trust her. It’s just that, what could she really do about it? There was nothing she could do to stop this wraith lord tonight, so, what was I supposed to do?
The fog was thick, making it difficult to see the road in front of me; maybe it would be enough to hide me away from his sight for one more night.
When I pulled up to the estate I didn’t notice all the cars at first, due to the fog and haze in my own brain. As I got out of my car I looked up to this house I once loved, feeling a sense of loss that fell away immediately as my adrenaline kicked into high gear. Standing at the entrance to my house were three of my father’s – its– associates. Only then did I notice our property looked like a parking garage.
There goes my inconspicuous arrival. I grabbed my stuff and headed into the house, pretending not to notice the huge bodyguards. In the entry way alone there must have been 30 men and women
or whatever they were. Was he having a party?
I needed my father to know I was here, but I wanted to stay out of the way of what was going down.
As I made it to the top of the stairs it called my name.
“William, what a pleasure to have you home again, son,” he said with as much cheer as a black hole could muster. The once-noisy room was now as quiet as if it were only he and I.
I was not ready for the anger and sheer hatred I felt when I saw this thing, saw it for what it really was. I looked him over, looking for confirmation of what Lizzy had told me.
He looked exactly the same as the day the accident occurred, down to his haircut and stubble. His body hadn’t changed, but what stared out of those human eyes was not my dad. I looked at this thing and saw. My eyes were open, and he knew it.
He let out a blood-curdling laugh. “Do you really think I don’t know everything about you? Do you think I don’t know who your new friends are? Your girlfriend? You imbecile! Don’t you realize when you’re being used? They’ve been using you to get to me. They’ve been filling you with lies to make you turn your back on your own father, your own blood.”
I turned and headed to my room. As I slammed the door a huge chorus of laugher broke out below. I knew I was safe for the moment. He was way too cocky and sure of himself to follow after me. And wasn’t he right?
I shouldn’t have come here. If I ever do get out, I’m not coming back.
I gathered what meant the most to me – pictures of my real family, my guitar, the book my mom made for me when I was five about a bear named Mailliw. I stuffed them and a few other items in a duffle bag and thought I’d try my luck at going out the window. I was certain it wouldn’t work. When have I ever run and gotten away from him?
I stood by the window contemplating my chances when a cracking sound shook the room.
What in the world? Then popping sounds, almost like the sound of a cork being shot out of a champagne bottle, no, more like a glass being smashed.
And then the screams, followed by more smashing.
I threw open my door. Wraiths upon wraiths were rushing the entry way, throwing their bodies on something, only to fall to the floor with a popping sound, dead.