by Ruby Raine
Michael didn’t even need to ask. He could feel the dread etching its way through every fiber of Charlie’s being. Michael jumped in and started up the jeep. Charlie hopped in and they sped back toward town as fast as possible.
WILLIAM WHISKED INTO the bookstore to find it empty.
“Emily,” he called out calmly. There was no reply. He listened intently.
Screaming. In the basement.
William dashed to the basement entrance where Emily crashed into him, in an attempt to escape.
“Oh, William! I don’t know what it is,” she cried out. “It’s been chasing me. I don’t know where to hide. It can go through walls!”
“Go upstairs,” he ordered. “I’ll deal with this ghostly fiend.”
Emily raced up the stairs shouting, “It was at the end of the hall.”
William honed in on the length of the hallway until catching the shimmer of a floating shadow. His eyes narrowed in excitement as he readied to give chase.
“I have always wondered if I could outrun a ghost.”
If he’d still had a living heart, it would be thudding against his chest in anticipation. William took off at full speed, gracefully maneuvering around, below, up or over any obstacle in his path.
The spirit had the advantage, however, of being able to move through objects, as William needed to propel his body around them. The spirit was also faster than William. Nevertheless, he was able to keep up as they darted through hallway after hallway and book stack after book stack.
“Confound it all!” he bellowed, unable to get ahead of it.
Determined to catch this malevolent spirit, he did something reserved for necessary moments only. Not missing a step, he reached into a pocket and took out a blood pack filled with human blood; the only thing that could potentially make him fast enough to catch this spirit. With a ferocious snarl his fangs dropped, tore open the pack, and he sucked it dry.
His breath drew deeper as the blood raged through his body, invigorating him with newfound stamina. Drinking the human blood was worth making sure Emily was safe, and Melinda’s dream did not come true.
His speed increased just enough to stride alongside the spirit. At the least, William hoped to see a recognizable face in the ghost’s silhouette.
The spirit had no intention of slowing down, however. Streams of white flew by William as the spirit sprinted past him. William swore he heard laughter emanating from the spirit, almost as if it were toying with him.
He made a final attempt to catch up to the spirit, and when nearly upon it, thrust his body into the spirit’s essence, hoping to catch it off guard enough to give it pause.
The vampire somersaulted through the streams of white, landing on his feet with a soft patter. He remained statuesque, his eyes and ears watching and listening for any clue as to who, or what, the spirit might be.
His maneuver, however, did not faze the spirit even for a moment.
It simply dissipated, vanishing, giving William no hint of its identity.
“Pity,” the vampire whispered, not even winded.
Perhaps it wasn’t possible to discover the spirit’s purpose in this manner. Even if he could keep up with it, there was no way to catch it and force it to reveal what it wanted. It is why ghosts sought out spirit vessels after all; they needed a body to speak on their behalf. They could not speak to the living in spirit form.
Regardless, he had not succeeded, and proceeded to the main lobby of the bookstore, where he found Emily cowering underneath her desk.
“Did you find it?”
“Find it, yes. Capture it, no,” he answered dryly, assisting her out of her hiding place.
“Oh, um, you’ve got a little blood,” she pointed.
William’s eyes opened wide. “Sorry,” he apologized earnestly, wiping it away. “I didn’t mean for you to see that.”
“Oh, please. You’re a vampire.”
“Still, it is most unseemly.”
Emily made a funny face and grabbed a tissue, dabbing at his chin as he had missed the blood completely.
“Thank you,” he said.
Emily sighed. “What was that thing, William? And what does it want with me?”
He wanted to soften the blow, but time wasn’t on their side. Honesty would be necessary. “I regret there is no easy way to break this sort of news, Emily. Melinda and I visited your father, and he explained everything. You are a spirit vessel as was your mother before you.” He paused for a moment, but seeing she wasn’t understanding yet explained, “That ring you wear keeps spirits from possessing your body.”
Emily leaned back onto her desk. “I’m a what? And spirits want to do what?”
William continued patiently. “You have the ability to permit the dead to speak, through the use of your body. Normally, these spirits are friendly and simply want to pass on a message to a living relative so they can move on. However, on occasion, there are malevolent beings that wish not only to use your body to speak, but to possess and control. To use as they wish.”
“Use my body as they wish,” squeaked Emily. “Oh dear. That doesn’t sound fun at all.” She gazed at her ring, the only thing keeping the spirit from taking over her body. “Why didn’t my father ever tell me this?”
“I imagine he hoped the spirits would not discover what you are, therefore allowing you to live your life as you see fit, Emily.”
She nodded, obviously still in shock.
Melinda bounded through the front door. “Emily, thank God! You’re okay.” She took a relieved breath. “Did William explain what’s happening?” She took a glance at him and knew before Emily answered that he had done so.
“Yes, and I don’t really understand it all. But I’m quite sure I don’t want any dead thing controlling my body.”
“Yeah, I don’t really blame you,” Melinda replied, agreeing with her. Although, her eyes slid to William. She could think of one dead thing she wouldn’t mind controlling her body. Ugh! Seriously! Enough already! I need to wipe the William dreams out of my memory. She tried to focus on his voice as he calmly explained what had occurred just moments before she’d arrived.
He cast a fleeting glance in her direction, observing again, that same heart flutter he’d heard earlier that morning. Her skin flushed right after, blood pumping hard to keep up with the flutter. Damn that human blood he’d just drank! His fangs ached like hell to drop. To taste her. An accusatory snarl hissed through his brain. It had nothing to do with the blood he’d just drank, and everything to do with that flutter.
It enticed him. Invited him to take what he wanted. Like somehow, that flutter belonged only to him. Each time she did it, the beats branded a little deeper into his soul. He needed to get to the bottom of that flutter and get her to stop doing it before he lost control.
With no outward sign of the angst swirling in his mind, he continued seamlessly explaining the encounter with the spirit he’d chased and nearly caught.
Melinda breathed out heavily as he finished.
William had downed human blood to help Emily. It hadn’t done much good in the end, but he was willing to go any lengths to make sure the prophetic dream did not come true. Melinda sent him a compassionate shrug, understanding how this would affect him later, when the thirst for human blood would become overwhelming and he’d lock himself away until the craving subsided.
His emerald green eyes darkened, just a little. He cast a fleeting glance at her neck.
Without even realizing she’d done it, Melinda reached up and stroked her throat.
Another flutter, William noted, watching her fingers glide over a pulsing vein. What is this response? It was driving him mad. He needed to understand it.
Melinda dropped her hand, swallowing a shallow exhale. William was high on human blood, but she trusted him completely. She did not trust herself, however.
Oh my God. Just Stop! Stop! Stop! I’m here to help Emily!
Melinda didn’t recall ever feeling this flustered and worked up
. And all over a vampire who was off limits! And in the middle of a crisis!
“William,” she let out in a huff. “I don’t know what to do. It’s time to call Charlie and Michael. I should at least let them know what’s going on at this point.”
“There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need help, Melinda, and I agree. I think we’ll need both of your brothers before this ends.”
“I’ll make the call,” she told him.
“There are some things I need to fetch from my study.” He abruptly whisked out of sight before she could ask more.
Melinda blew out a breath, equally relieved and anxious that William was gone. She stepped over to Emily. “This is a lot to take in all at once, huh?”
“You could say that,” Emily’s voice wavered slightly. “It’s all so very strange. And I don’t think there are any books about spirit vessels. If there are, I’ve never read them.”
“And you remember everything you read,” Melinda recalled. “We will figure it out, Emily. I’m sure your father can explain it better. He must have information to help you understand this power. But for today, no matter what, keep that ring on.”
At that moment, a furious whirlwind of white ravaged its way through the bookstore, accelerating toward Melinda and Emily. It thrashed everything it came into contact with, leaving behind a cloud of books, papers, and furniture.
Melinda grabbed Emily, and they slid across the top of the checkout counter ducking down underneath it. Melinda dug into her pocket for her cell phone, dialing Charlie.
Voicemail. Damn!
“Charlie! Michael! Bookstore!” she shouted urgently. Before she could hang up, she dropped the phone, she and Emily screaming as a light fixture came crashing down, smashing over them. Glass shattered and flew in all directions.
The front door swung open and William flew in, screeching to a halt just inside. “I see I’m right on time.”
Melinda, seeing William, jumped out from behind the counter. She accidentally stepped on and crushed her phone. She did not notice it though as William tossed a small velvet bag into her hands.
She caught it, and glanced inside. Her face lit up. “You think?”
“It worked on a demon.”
“What would I do without you, William?” Melinda stepped out from behind the counter, into the store that was now a fury of streaming papers and debris. She emptied the contents of the bag into her palm. Three smooth stones, each with a symbol carved into the top.
Melinda threw the stones onto the floor.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
The stones lifted into the air, rotating together, forming a circle of flying stone.
“Carcer,” she spoke.
The symbol on the first stone lit up, like the color of fire.
“Vincula,” she said, and the second stone’s symbol burned as brightly as the first.
“Capere!” Melinda finished firmly.
The third symbol lit up, and the stones fell back to the ground with a flat smack, forming a triangle. The light emanating from the stones shot into the air, like extended arms. These fiery arms reached out and ensnared the spirit, dragging it downward. Once inside the stone’s triangle, the arms became a wall of fire that held the spirit, prisoner. It struggled to break free but could not.
Melinda sighed. “It won’t hold for long, William. It’s meant to hold and bind demons, not spirits.”
“It will buy us time,” he reminded. “And we don’t yet know for sure if this spirit is friend or foe. It might well be a demon.”
Emily joined Melinda and William, staring into the temporary cage.
“That wants to take over my body,” she said, curiously. “Huh.” Emily eyed her normally tidy bookstore. “It’s going to take weeks to clean this up.” She started picking up papers and books, trying to organize the chaos.
Melinda went to stop her but William nodded to let her continue. “She’s in shock.”
“How do we fix this, William? It will escape, eventually, and it’s just going to keep trying to use Emily as a vessel.”
“I believe our only option is to force the spirit to move on. Somehow, we need to make it believe that its unfinished business is finished.”
“How do we do that? How do we make a ghost move on?”
“I must return to my study.”
Again, he left Melinda standing in the bookstore, this time alongside a very irritable and trapped spirit.
“Great! What do I do in the meantime?”
“You could help me clean up,” Emily mumbled, while shrugging.
“Why not? Nothing else I can do right now.”
Melinda and Emily spent the next thirty minutes cleaning. Every minute or so the spirit would try to escape its cage and sparks would pop and startle them.
Where is William? And for that matter, where are Charlie and Michael? Melinda found her thoughts growing more agitated as each minute passed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, William reappeared.
“Sorry,” he apologized, upon seeing Melinda’s face. “I had to read many books to locate the information I needed.” He held up a piece of paper. “An incantation, which if said properly, should force the spirit to move on.”
As if it could understand William’s intentions, the spirit desperately searched for a way out, but all it could do was slam up against the fiery energy field.
“I hope those stones hold,” muttered Melinda.
“I think I’ll just go put these books away now,” said Emily, holding a hefty stack in her hand. She scurried up the stairs, stopping at a nearby shelf on the second floor.
“She’s in complete denial,” Melinda worried. She turned her attention to the incantation. “So what do I need to make this work, William?”
“Your brothers, I’m afraid. Your power is not enough. This spell requires a lot of magic.”
“I’ll call them again.” She darted across the room to locate her cell phone, which she had dropped behind Emily’s desk earlier. “Damn! I broke it. Stepped on it and it’s crushed.”
Electric pulses struck the walls inside the spirit’s prison. The thwacks of energy getting louder and faster. Melinda slowly turned around. The spirit was crashing up against the sides with increasing speed. The three stones began to shake, causing its fiery walls to vibrate.
“They’re not going to hold,” Melinda determined, stepping closer.
Sparks flew into the air.
The energy field imprisoning the spirit radiated brightly, expanding like a balloon.
William flung his body in front of Melinda, shielding her. It was not necessary though as the only remnant from the burst was a curtain of light that melted like falling snow.
Melinda gasped.
In the next instant, her dream unraveled before her eyes. She looked upstairs and saw Emily standing in front of a bookshelf, holding a book. The spirit flew full speed toward her.
The ring worked, repelling the spirit from taking over Emily’s body.
The spirit attempted to find a way in but could not. A white film surrounded Emily’s hand, the ring on her finger vibrating. Emily batted at the spirit with a book, which did nothing but wisp through its body. She dropped the book, at the same time, screaming in pain.
“Don’t take off the ring!” William shouted.
Emily started screaming louder. “It’s burning me!”
William flew up the stairs.
The ring smoldered, burning Emily’s finger, threatening to burn her entire hand.
William, realizing the risk, slipped the ring off her finger with ease, leaving behind a perfectly burned mark where the ring had been.
Melinda started up the stairs when the front door flew open and her brothers came running in.
“Melinda!” shouted Charlie, relieved to see her.
“Emily!” Michael called out, panic-stricken.
“I’m up here, Michael,” Emily responded despondently.
They were too late.
/> In that moment, the spirit surged straight through William and engulfed Emily’s body, draping it in streams of white. William had no choice but to let go of Emily as the spirit took control of her body.
“The spell, Melinda!” William commanded, returning to her side in a flash.
Melinda raced to her brothers.
“What’s going on?” Charlie and Michael asked at once.
“Just say this spell with me! It’s the only way to save Emily.”
“Wait!” a voice boomed from upstairs. “Please, let me speak!”
It was Emily’s mouth that moved, but not her voice that spoke. It was a familiar voice though. One none of the Howard siblings dare believe they had heard.
“I AM SORRY FOR FRIGHTENING you, and hurting Emily, but this is the only way in which I can speak with you. I would never intentionally hurt the woman my son loves.”
“Mom?” Michael uttered, barely audibly.
Melinda covered her mouth, gasping.
Charlie stepped forward; he still did not believe it.
William’s head tilted to one side, and he stared into Emily’s eyes, looking as equally perplexed as the siblings.
Emily’s’ possessed body climbed down the stairs.
“I am sorry,” their mother said again. “I realize this is a shock. I have spent years trying to contact you and only recently did I learn Emily was a vessel. I knew it might be my only chance.” She now stood in front of them.
“Catherine,” William confirmed. “If I had tears,” he held his hand up to his lifeless heart.
Charlie, Michael, and Melinda rushed forward, wrapping themselves around each other, and Emily’s body.
“I’m so sorry, Mom,” Melinda cried. “I thought you were evil.”
“It’s okay My Sweet Girl. You could not have known. Although, I was getting a bit desperate there at the end.”
Melinda had not been called ‘My Sweet Girl’ in so long she had nearly forgotten what it sounded like.
“Why are you here?” Charlie asked astonished by what he was seeing. “That came out wrong. I mean, it’s just...”