The Harbinger

by Wendy Wang

  "Actually I wasn't scared because it was my sister. She’d been sick, and I just thought she had come home from the hospital. It wasn't until later that I found out that she had died," Charlie said.

  "I knew you had a sister that died but I didn't know she came back," Evan mused.

  "Well she did. And it wasn't scary. I think it was her way of saying goodbye to me," Charlie said. “Not every encounter has to be scary. You get to control how you feel when you’re around a spirit. The calmer you are the better. They can feed off of your energy. If you’re fearful, it can make them more powerful. You understand?”

  “I think so,” he said. A frown wrinkled his lips.

  "What did your mom and dad say when you told them?”

  "I never told my mom. She…she wouldn’t have understood and somehow I knew that even when I was small.”

  “What about your dad?”

  “I did tell him, and he got very upset. He told me to never tell anybody. It wasn't until after he and mama died and I went to live with my Gramma Bunny that I learned it wasn't something to be scared of or ashamed of," she said. "Although that last part was the hardest thing to learn."

  "Yeah." Evan's face became thoughtful. "I can understand that."

  "Listen, I don't want anybody to ever make you feel that you are wrong or bad or crazy for seeing and feeling these sorts of things. And that includes your dad."

  "We shouldn’t tell him." Panic filled his voice and he shook his head. "It would just make him mad."

  "Sometimes your dad’s first reaction when he’s scared is to seem angry, even when he’s really not. So he’s probably not really mad, just scared. Does that make sense?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Evan said.

  “You know your dad loves you to the moon and back, right? He’d do anything for you."

  "I know," Evan said.

  "He hasn't given you a hard time lately, has he?" Charlie asked.

  Evan hesitated but his lips curled up into a smile and he shook his head. "No, he’s actually been pretty nice to me about this sort of stuff."

  "Good. I’m glad to hear that.” Charlie smoothed the blanket around Evan’s feet. “You think you're ready to go back to sleep now?"

  "Yeah. I think so." Evan scooted back down and pulled the sheet and summer quilt up to his chin.

  Charlie bent over and kissed him on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, kiddo."

  “Night, Mom," Evan said. Charlie made it to the door and started to flip the light switch when Evan called to her. "Hey, Mom."

  "Yes, baby?" she said looking at him over her shoulder.

  "Please don’t tell Dad. I know you say he won’t be mad but . . ."

  "I really think he should know, Evan."

  "Then I’ll tell him. Okay?"

  "You promise?" Charlie asked.

  "Yeah, I promise," he said.

  Charlie waited a beat, feeling out her son. No bells went off in her head indicating he was lying. She gave him a weary smile. "Okay, then that's fine. As long as you tell him."

  "Thanks." He closed his eyes.

  Charlie gave her son one last look, then surveyed the room to make sure everything was in order. When the copper-colored chicken materialized in the corner of the room sitting on the back of the rocking chair, she brought her index finger to her lips.

  “You keep quiet, Penny.”

  The chicken let out a soft cluck and disappeared again. Charlie turned off the light.

  Jason glided along the top of the glassy water, his skis barely bouncing. He hadn’t been waterskiing in over five years, but once he'd gotten up on his feet, his muscles remembered what to do. The boat clipped along at a nice pace and he relished the light briny spray in his face. What a great day to be out on the water. The sun shone in the late morning sky against a nearly solid blue background. A few white puffy clouds gathered out near the horizon but it was nothing to be worried about. A perfect Sunday afternoon.

  His lady, Lisa Holloway, looked at home behind the wheel of her father’s twenty-four-foot deck boat. Her strawberry blonde ponytail whipped in the wind and the strings of the yellow bikini tied around her delicate neck glowed against her lightly tanned and freckled skin.

  Sitting next to her in the passenger seat with a beer in one hand and a small yellow flag in another was his oldest friend Cameron Reed. He and Jason had shared a major of Criminal Justice and been friends since their freshman year of college nearly eighteen years ago now. Both joined the police force after graduation. Somewhere along the way though, they’d each gotten opportunities to grow their careers; Jason joined the Charleston County Sheriff’s office as an investigator and Cameron joined the FBI. Still it didn’t dampen their friendship. They talked regularly on the phone and spent vacations together sometimes. This year had been hard on Cameron, though. His wife, Caroline, his college sweetheart, had left him six months before. Cameron seemed to be taking it okay, better than he probably should have. It made Jason wonder if his friend believed somewhere deep inside that he deserved to be left because he was never home and when he was, he was consumed by his job. Caroline had gone looking for comfort and love elsewhere.

  Jason shifted his gaze from his friend back to Lisa. They'd been doing this "whatever it was" for nearly two and a half months now. She was smart and pretty and they were like-minded in so many ways it scared him a little but not as much as it seemed to scare her.

  Her cousin Charlie had warned him that Lisa could be skittish. So he had done everything in his power to keep himself in check. But it was getting harder and harder not to fall in love with her. Not to fall in love with the whole damn coven of them actually. Not only did he love being with her, he loved being with her family and the way they had welcomed him in.

  Cameron stood up, chugged back the rest of his beer and tossed it into the paper bag behind Lisa's seat. He moved closer to Lisa and rested his hand on her shoulder. He leaned in as if to tell her something and pointed off toward the right side of the boat. Even at this distance Jason could see Lisa's body stiffen as she nodded. Cameron had said something that had put her on notice. Jason scanned the wide expanse of the inlet looking for the thing that might have alarmed Cameron. In the distance three jet skis driven by what looked like teenagers crisscrossed the inlet, cutting each other off and jumping their own wakes.

  Lisa threw a glance over her shoulder at Jason. He waved and her round face lit up with a smile. His chest flooded with warmth. How he'd gotten so lucky, he didn’t know.

  Cameron looked back too but there was something in his expression that sent off warning bells in Jason's head. It was the look of awareness of imminent danger. He heard Cameron yell but couldn’t make out the words. The boat veered sharply to the left and Jason was no longer behind it but headed straight for the side of the boat. His heart leapt into his throat. A long wake of water sent him flying upward. But he landed without his legs splitting or losing his balance.

  Lisa stood up in her seat and turned the wheel sharply back to the right, sending another set of waves his way. From the looks of it, she over-corrected and he didn't quite have time to shift his body to compensate. Water rushed over the top of his skis. The rope in his hand tugged forward and he felt himself start to lose his balance. He forced himself to let go of the rope, and continued to sail forward a little ways, the water slowing him down. His skis sank and he fell backward, letting his life vest do most of the work of holding him up.

  Lisa threw a glance over her shoulder and turned the boat about, slowing down as she neared him floating in the water. She drove up alongside of him, careful to maintain a good ten feet between him and the boat as she shifted the engine into neutral.

  "Are you all right?" Her lightly tanned face was flushed and her green eyes blazed with guilt.

  “I’m fine.” Jason pushed his wet bangs off his forehead. “What happened?”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Two kids on jet skis cut right across my path and I had to turn to miss one of them. You sure you�
�re okay?”

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “I’m good.”

  “You want to keep skiing?” Lisa asked.

  The three jet skiers raced past their boat, and Jason bounced up and down like a buoy. He drifted away from the boat several yards because of the wake and got the brackish water in his nose and his mouth. Lisa pulled the boat closer, presenting the stern to him. She cut the motor and Cameron made his way down to the narrow swim platform on the back of the boat. Cameron bent down and hauled in the ski rope. Once he had the handle he tossed it to Jason.

  “Hang on to it and I’ll pull you in,” Cameron called. Jason took the handle and let Cameron pull him close to the boat, then hopped up onto the platform and removed his skis. Cameron held out a hand for his friend, helping Jason to his feet.

  "Damn kids," Cameron said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

  "Damn kids," Jason said smirking. It was an old joke between them. Harkening back to when they were in college and serious about their studies when no one else seemed to be.

  Jason and Cameron climbed into the rear of the boat. Jason propped his skis up against one of the seats and ran his fingers through his wet hair pushing it off his face.

  "You sure you don't want to ski anymore?" Lisa asked. She handed Jason a towel and he began to scrub his hair dry.

  "No, I think I'm done for the day." His stomach growled loudly and he pressed his hand to his abdomen. "I think what I really want to do now is eat."

  "That sounds like a plan," Cameron said.

  "We could find a place close to shore. Jen packed some sandwiches for us," Lisa suggested.

  "That sounds good," Jason said, wrapping the towel around his waist and tucking it into the top of his swim trunks. Lisa started the engine and found a spot near a sandy embankment then dropped the anchor. Cameron and Jason made their way to the front deck seats while Lisa opened up one of the many compartments and pulled out a small cooler. She put it on the floor in front of the men and then went back into the driver’s area and grabbed a tote bag that had a roll of paper towels, some paper plates and two different bags of chips to choose from. Cameron slipped a beer from the larger cooler on the floor board and offered one to Jason.

  "Not with my head still spinning from last night," he said. "I'll just take soda."

  Lisa grabbed a diet soda and took a seat next to Jason. She unzipped the small cooler and peered inside the hard plastic compartment. "Looks like I've got ham, turkey and roast beef. Who wants what?"

  "I'll take ham if you don't want it, then you can take the roast beef," Jason said to Cameron trying to veer him away from the turkey, which he knew was Lisa's favorite.

  "Roast beef sounds great," Cameron said.

  "I think you'll really like this," Lisa said, handing Cameron the sandwich wrapped in wax paper. "Jen made it with horseradish mayo and blue cheese crumbles."

  She took the ham sandwich and gave it to Jason and put the turkey sandwich on her lap. Jason sorted the paper plates and Lisa pulled out two plastic containers — one with freshly made coleslaw and the other with a mix of berries. She opened the chips so that Jason and Cameron could help themselves then began to unwrap her sandwich.

  "This is from the restaurant that we went to the other night?" Cameron asked after finishing his first bite.

  "Yep," Jason said. He took a bite of his ham sandwich, savoring the fresh roll, the bite of grainy mustard mixed with mayonnaise, and the tang of the Swiss cheese against the sweetness of the ham.

  "This is really good," Cameron said with a nearly full mouth.

  Jason nodded and took another bite. In the driver's compartment a familiar ring tone began to sound. Lisa gave Jason an irritated look.

  "Don't worry," Jason said. "I'll get rid of him." He put his plate down on the seat next to him and grabbed his phone from Lisa's canvas bag behind the driver’s seat. He scowled at the picture of his partner displaying on his small phone screen and pressed the green answer button.

  "I know you're not calling me on my vacation," Jason said.

  Beck sighed. “Well since I couldn’t get to you telepathically like your girlfriend there, I didn’t have much choice.”

  “There’s only one choice which is not to call. So bye,” Jason quipped.

  “Wait! Don’t hang up! He’s back.” The urgency of Beck’s tone and his words sent a chill skittering across Jason’s shoulders.

  “That ain’t funny,” Jason said in a low growl.

  “Good. I wasn’t trying to be. We have another angel," Beck said in a low serious voice.

  The damp hair on Jason's neck stood at attention and he straightened up. His smile faded, weighed down by the heaviness that filled his cheeks.

  "Shit," Jason muttered. "You sure?"

  "I'm staring right at her. So yeah I'm pretty sure. I know you have your buddy visiting but I need you on this."

  Jason nodded as he spoke, "We’re out on the water. It'll take at least an hour to get back to the dock and then … where are you?"

  "I'm out near Ravenel."

  "That'll be another forty-five minutes so we’re looking at least two hours."

  "I'm not going anywhere."

  "Yep," Jason said. The line clicked and Jason tucked the phone back into Lisa’s bag. He took a deep breath. He dreaded looking into Lisa's beautiful face and asking her to hang out with Cameron. The guy was his oldest friend and he trusted him not to do anything untoward with Lisa. But he knew Lisa wouldn't want to babysit either.

  "What did Beck say?" Lisa asked, sitting up straight. There was a wariness in her face and voice. They'd only been together a couple of months but he recognized the concern.

  “One of our cases has gotten intense. It looks like we have another victim," Jason said.

  "And Beck can’t handle it without you," Lisa said flatly.

  "Yeah," he said. "I'll just go to the crime scene and check it out. I promise I'm not gonna get embroiled in this thing, at least not until I get back. Would you mind hanging out with Cameron for the rest of the day?"

  "Wait," Cameron interjected. "This is the second victim?"

  Jason shook his head. "Third. Assuming it's tied to the other two. Beck seems convinced but —"

  "Do you want me to help? I mean this is my area." Cameron sat up on the edge of his seat balancing his plate precariously on one knee.

  "How many beers have you had?" Jason asked.

  "One and a sip."

  "I don't know," Jason said. "Last thing I want is anybody questioning the sheriff's department and their professionalism."

  "Well I don't work for the sheriff’s department. Need I remind you that I work for the FBI and serial killers are in my wheelhouse? So I wouldn't reflect poorly on you at all. We consult on cases like this all the time," Cameron said sounding almost excited.

  "Okay," Jason said. "But that's the last of that beer."

  "Do we at least get to finish our sandwiches?" Lisa asked.

  "Can we drive and eat?" Jason said warily.

  Lisa's mouth pressed into a flat line. "Fine."

  She took another bite of her sandwich before wrapping it back up and putting it into the cooler. Her shoulders slumped a little as she rose and got behind the wheel. The engine cranked to life and she maneuvered them back onto the main thoroughfare of river traffic.

  Jason gave her a smile and continued to eat his sandwich. He would make it up to her. Take her someplace fancy in Charleston for dinner one night. Just the two of them. Jason pointed to Cameron's plate. "Better eat up. I don't know how long this is going to take."

  Chapter 2

  Jason pulled his Dodge Charger behind one of the parked sheriff’s cruisers. He and Cameron hopped out and were met by a deputy that seemed to be waiting for them.

  Jason acknowledged him. "McCleary, this is a friend of mine from the FBI. What have we got?"

  "Two boys out squirrel hunting noticed some buzzards flying up above. They thought it might be cool." McCleary made air quotes with his fingers
. "To go shoot at the buzzards, sir."

  "What happened?" Cameron asked.

  "They found a body, sir," McCleary said. "I'm afraid the sight of it made them wet themselves. They ran all the way home and called the sheriff's department."

  "Whose property is this?" Jason asked. McCleary led them across a ditch and into the dense grove of pine trees.

  "The owner’s Carl Harper,” McCleary said. Pine needles crunched beneath their feet as they walked through the pine forest. “He owns about twenty-five acres out here for hunting and recreation. His son Jordan is the one that found the body."

  "How old’s Jordan?" Jason asked.

  “He and his friend Neil Bellows are both fourteen. They got quite a scare I’m afraid.”

  “I’ll bet they did. They’ve probably never seen a dead body before,” Jason said.

  “Yes sir. Especially not one like this," McCleary said.

  Cameron scowled and lightly punched Jason in the arm making him look at him. He mouthed, “What’s he talking about?”

  “You’ll see,” Jason said softly. “Is the coroner here yet?"

  "Yes sir," McCleary nodded. "They're working the scene now and we’ve got a forensics team combing the area for evidence."

  The woods opened into a clearing and in the center was a large fire ring made of rocks. Thin, evenly spaced lines led away from the body, toward the ring of rocks, spreading ash and charred wood across the sandy dirt. The coroner knelt next to the naked body of a young woman. Jason drew closer and stepped into the ring. A sour taste bubbled in the back of his throat and he stopped at her feet, peering down at her. No wonder the boys had wet themselves. Her corpse had been laid out in the center of the ring. Her arms had been tied together at the wrists with gold ribbon and folded across her chest like an Egyptian pharaoh. Purple marbling spread across her gray skin and there were chunks of tissue missing. Some of the gashes were so deep he could see the yellow-white bone. Stretched behind her was a pair of meticulously crafted black wings. Her long reddish blonde hair had been braided and coiled around her head, making a halo. Two gaping black holes in her face where her eyes used to be, stared up at Jason.