When I saw the woman who cared more about status than her own kids, I wanted to lock her in a basement until she learned to see the world in a new way and appreciate her family.
When I saw the seemingly happily married couple in the pews who were both dying inside because they no longer wanted to be in that marriage, I wanted to strangle the life out of them until they understood that their own souls were more important than an empty marriage that wasn’t worth saving.
So if you were to ask me if I missed being a pastor, I’d say no. Because if I was a pastor for real these days, I would beat that abuser to a bloody pulp. I would lock that shallow woman in a basement for six months. And I would strangle that couple until they re-evaluated what their lives were about.
I stomped the dirt over the grave. I spread around the mulch and sticks and leaves to hide any suspicious activity. The wildlife wouldn’t bother the body. They probably couldn’t smell it anyway, the corpse being Forever and all.
I breathed out and leaned on the shovel. After a second of breathing the fresh night air, we walked back to the truck. I threw the shovel in the back and locked it up.
Maya got in her side and closed the door quietly. As I was about to jump in the driver’s side, I saw it.
Maya noticed my reaction. “What is it? What are you looking at?”
There, across the street, was a parked semi. On the trailer were the words Defense Integrated Enterprise Ammunitions, spelled vertically, so the rest of the words dropped under the first letter. Spelling DIEA on top. Next to the semi was a van with a large word starting with LONE, but the rest of the word was covered up by another truck.
Put the letters together, it spelled DIE ALONE.
Maya targeted her eyes where I was looking. “Oh, look, it spells out ‘Die Alone,’” she said. “Funny.”
But it wasn’t funny. If the third sign was followed by a pattern of wildlife mimicking the number of messages already given, in my case, three, then it was definitely not funny.
I peered down the street. There were no deer. No bears. No…
Slowly, I tilted my head upward.
Above the trucks.
On the telephone wire.
Perched a row of ravens.
“Don’t,” I whispered. In unison, they took to the air. The flock rose and dived together.
Three times.
I got in the seat and pulled the door closed.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I was given an omen.”
“What did it tell you?”
“That I’m going to die.”
“Is this about what I said? I’m sure it was just co—”
“It wasn’t coincidence.”
“Are omens ever wrong?”
“No.”
“Look on the bright side. You’re alive right now.” She didn’t believe a word I said. Good for her.
“Yes, I am,” I said, turning onto the road.
Maya twirled her head toward me. “Where to now, Father Ivy?”
“I don’t have much time left,” I said. “It’s time I introduced you to the family.”
Chapter 36
Getting the Band Back Together
“You can stay in the loft,” I said to Maya. She wore only a large beach towel after taking a shower. “Isn’t that right, Zac?”
Zac may be have been only technically leasing this apartment, but for all intents and purposes, it belonged to him. Or so he thought.
“I have a bunk bed in my room,” Zac said, turning from his computer. I gave him the stare down. The last thing I needed was Zac to be distracted by a pretty young amnesiac girl sleeping in his room. Sexual frustration was never helpful when you’re on the job. I grunted at him. “Um, or the loft is fine too, I guess?” he said.
“Down the hall on the left is a closet,” I said. “Zac’s outfits should be close to your size. At least until you get more clothes.”
“Thank you,” she said. She touched my arm a little too tenderly. And a little too long. “Thank you all.” Her eyes cut to the side at Zac. She noticed him watching her. Was the touch to make him jealous or an innocent sign of appreciation? Was it to cause strife and dissension? Or to get him to chase her?
Did I just invite a viper into the nest?
It wasn’t something I wanted to deal with at the moment. There were more pressing concerns. As Maya left down the hall, I explained to Serena what Landon’s Remnant phantasm said back at the lake.
“That was clever, contacting his Remnant for information,” Serena said. “But futile. Especially since it was Forever blood that killed him. He lost connection to his spirit. The rules of entanglement don’t apply.”
“I am well aware of universal law, Serena,” I said.
I glimpsed my watch. It was almost ten o’clock at night. Grace’s soul will be trapped forever by tomorrow. I needed to find that gateway. Unfortunately, that meant I needed the witch.
Serena sat on the floor and crossed her legs. “If I do this, I’m part of the team. Officially on record. We share info.”
“There is no team,” I said, looking down at her.
“You, me, Zac and Augie. I’m pretty sure that makes a team.”
Zac threw up his hands. “I’m just a floater.”
“Fine,” she said. “Then we’re a trio. “You, me, and Augie.”
“Augie isn’t here,” I said.
“Then where a duo. Equals. Like partners.”
“We’re not partners.”
“I think we are. We’re Batman and Robin. Or I walk,” she said, crossing her arms.
I could have sat and stewed in my juices for a while. But that would only waste time. She wanted to be equals but could never be mine. Rather than argue the point, I told her what she wanted to hear. “Fine. Partners.”
“Great,” she said. “Come on, Robin. Let me show you how it’s done.” She patted the floor beside her. “Here. Sit.”
I sat cross-legged on the floor across from her, leaving a few feet between us. “I’m not your sidekick. If Zac got me the correct information to begin with,” I said, “we wouldn’t need to do this.”
“Hey, I thought it was the right guy,” Zac said. “He was the only one I found online with that name. I can only reveal information that’s on the World Wide Web. Or locked away in a secret web vault that only the most brilliant hackers can get to. Still, it’s not my fault if it’s faulty info. Next time, maybe you should call the Librarian. Show her the same ungrateful attitude. She’ll bop you in your nose.”
The Librarian. The nickname of the only person to put me in my place. Or at least, she thinks she does. She has access to a great many things I don’t. She has some skills that come in handy. Unfortunately, she’s temperamental. Think of Nell Carter but twice as angry. I’ve run out of goodwill with her. Any favors I ask for would cost too high a price.
“Lucky for you two,” Serena said, holding a gold ring that had Roosevelt High School inscribed in it. “My web is a lot bigger. I snatched Harry’s ring when he was here. You need a personal item in order to summon his spirit. Entanglement works for a reason.” She placed the object in the middle of the floor and started chanting. It was in Babylonian, but I didn’t catch it all. My Babylonian was rusty. I’d have to remedy that.
We waited for a minute. Nothing.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Patience.”
I felt hands on me. Somebody was behind me. Massaging my shoulders.
“How does that feel, big guy?” Landon asked.
I grabbed his arm and spun him around, forcing him to the floor in front of me. “Landon.”
“What’s up, Sol? Miss me?” His gaze fell to the ring beside him. “Hey, you found my ring. I thought I lost that.”
He crawled on his hands and knees to the ring and tried to grab it. His fingers went through it.
“Oh, shit,” he said. “That’s right. I’m dead.”
“I have a spell on the ring, Harry,” Serena sa
id. “Preventing you from touching it.”
Harry grimaced. “You’re still my little witch bitch, Serena.”
Serena smiled. “Your essence is strong. You’re already touching solid objects.”
“Yeah, but it only lasts a few seconds,” he said.
“Practice,” she said.
“Harry,” I said. “The boy in your class who has the gateway to Ghostworld. What’s his full name?”
“Rory Harper,” he said.
I made a mental note. “Where does he live?”
“If I tell you,” he said, “you’ll send me back.”
Serena looked confused. “You don’t want to go back to Heaven?”
“Well, sure. Who doesn’t? But that’s not where I was.”
Serena tried to touch his leg, but her hand passed through it. “It takes three days to get to Heaven if you missed the first invitation.”
“Invitation?” he said. “Mine must’ve gotten lost in the mail.”
“You didn’t see a bright light when you died?” She looked at her hand after passing through Landon’s leg. It was covered in a yellowish jelly-like substance. Protoplasm.
“It was confusing,” he said. “I saw a light, but thought it was a migraine. Behind the eyes. They’re intense, you know?”
Serena asked, “Where were you if not in Heaven?”
“Here and there,” he said, belching. He rubbed his round belly.
Serena jolted backwards. “I can smell that,” she said, waving her hand in front of her face to get rid of the stench. “You’ve been drinking.”
I smelled it too. It was whiskey. “He’s been to the bar,” I said.
Serena threw up her hands. “You died and skipped Heaven to go to the bar?”
He giggled. “Drinks were on the house.”
“Are you drunk?” She wiped the protoplasm off her hand onto the rug. My three-thousand-dollar Persian rug. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t pay for it. I stole it from a Forever’s house after I killed him. He obviously wasn’t using it anymore.
But still, wiping protoplasm on a fine rug like that was rude. That shit was hard to get off.
“How is that even possible?” she asked.
Landon got to his feet and stumbled to the floor beside me. “I went to a bar last night after it closed. Free whiskey is great motivation to learn stuff. Like touching solid objects.”
“I see it worked,” I said.
He belched. “I’m a fast learner.”
“I mean,” Serena said, “How are you able to drink it?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But there it was. There I was. And I did.”
The thing you should understand about being a ghost is that there are several realms in which they can exist.
Ghostworld is one realm. Inside that is another realm called the Recurrence, where Grace was. Our world, the Human realm, is yet another. Ghosts have access to multiple dimensions and can exist on any of these.
In the Human realm, ghosts can learn to touch solid objects, as Landon apparently learned last night. But also, the entire Human realm is duplicated in a realm all its own. Every object is replicated as a ghostly version of itself. Like a carbon copy. Or a mirror image.
Ghosts can pick up a bottle of whiskey in that realm and drink it. And apparently, as Landon so perfectly demonstrated, can still get plastered even when you’re dead.
And when Landon hits the booze, he becomes an obnoxious happy touchy-feely lush.
He ran his fingers down my face before I slapped them away. “Your face is so rough,” he said. “Like pristine wrinkled leather on a brand new sofa from IKEA.”
I scrunched my brow. “Landon, focus. Where does Rory live? We need an address.”
He rolled on his stomach. Interlacing his fingers under his chin, he placed his elbows on the floor and batted his eyelashes at me. “What’s in it for me, tough guy?”
I wanted to punch him. “You’re dead and you’re still holding out on me?”
He grinned and shrugged. “A dead leopard doesn’t change its spots, Solomon.”
“Serena,” I said. “How much spiritual agony can we impose on him before his soul burns to ash?”
“Well, we do have the ring,” she said, holding it up. “We could make him burn for at least several hundred years. How long do class rings last?”
“It looks pretty solid,” I said, looking over the ring. “I’d say at least seven, eight hundred years.”
“Hey, guys,” Landon said. “No need to be snippy. I just want to tag along is all. I want my six months,” he said, staring at me. “You owe me six months.”
Serena nodded and glanced at me with doe-like eyes. “You did take his last six months away from him, Sol.”
“You’re not helping,” I said.
“He was safe in his apartment hiding from the world and you kidnapped him and got him dead,” she said.
Landon agreed. “Thank you!”
I smirked. “If you give us the kid’s address,” I said, “we’ll let you come along. But not before.”
“I can live with that,” he said. “Figure of speech.”
“Where is he, Landon?” I asked. “Address. Now.”
“Give me your phone, I’ll punch it in.”
I handed him my cell phone.
He grabbed it and began texting the address when the phone started sinking through his hands. It dropped to the floor. “Oh, crapola. I still don’t have the hang of touching solid objects for longer than a few seconds.”
“Just give me the address, Landon,” I said, grabbing the phone off the floor.
“He lives on the North Side,” Landon said, flashing a gang sign. He looked like a moron. “Lincoln Square. Riverpark Apartments. Apartment 7C.”
“Thank you, Harry,” Serena said. “You’re a peach.”
Landon had a huge smile. “I can come along, right?”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”
Serena raised an eyebrow. “He might come in handy,” she said. “He can’t be hurt. He’s learned enough to move solid objects. Hell, he gave you a very sensual massage from the looks of it—”
“Shut up,” I said.
“And Poe won’t be expecting him,” she said.
That perked my ears.
She was right. He could be useful. I hated when she was right.
Landon had an expression of anticipation, waiting for my decision. Like a little puppy dog wagging his tail.
I shook my head. “Fine, you can come.”
“You won’t regret this,” he said, hugging me.
“Famous last words,” I said, pushing him off. “How adept are you with your abilities?”
“Well, as your muscular shoulders know, I can touch solid objects for up to five seconds.”
“Can you go invisible?” I asked.
“Let me see,” he said, concentrating. “Can you see me now?”
“You’re standing right there,” I said.
“Okay, hold on. I got this,” he said. He squeezed his eyes tight and grunted like he was taking a dump. He faded away. “How about now?”
“Okay,” I said. “You can go invisible.”
He popped back into sight and exhaled, like he was holding his breath.
“Can you teleport?” I asked.
“Teleport? I can do that?”
“Discarnate entities can cross space in seconds,” I said. “They think of their parents, suddenly they’re standing next to them. Consciousness can move across space and time in a moment. Yes, Landon. For all intents and purposes, you can teleport.”
“Cool. I haven’t tried that yet.”
I got to my feet. Serena stood and dusted herself off. She winked at me and grinned. “So we’re a trio after all.”
“Just like the good old days,” he said, putting his arm around her. “Getting the band back together.” After several seconds, his arm passed through her.
“We’ll go in the morning,” I said. “After we’re rested. Get
up at seven a.m.”
“I need my beauty sleep, Solomon,” Serena said. “I’m not a morning person.”
“Grace can’t afford your beauty sleep, Serena. Figure it out.”
“Did Poe call and give an address?” she asked.
“He called. I told him to go fuck himself.”
Serena crossed her arms. “Why would you do that?”
“To make him angry. Throw him off his game. He’s predicting what I’ll do. I need to keep him off balance.”
“But Augie—”
“Is fine,” I said.
“Did Blake give you the location?”
“No,” I said.
I left them and walked down the hall. Opened the closet and removed a white bucket. Grabbed the handle and carried it to the room on the right.
When I opened the door, Blake was still in his cage as expected. He healed from the last round of bullets I laid into him. Lucky for him, they weren’t laced with toxin. I set the bucket in front of him.
He eyeballed that bucket something fierce. “What’s in the bucket?”
“Something to close loose ends,” I said, pulling the machete from the table. I got enough blood from him earlier to make my cocktails. He didn’t have any more useful intel. He served his purpose.
“You’re new to this world, Blake. I’ll make it quick.”
“Is that acid?”
“Look at that,” I said. “You’re psychic.”
“Hey, man. I’ll tell you anything you want.”
“There is nothing I want.”
“I’ll tell you where Poe is at. It’s a white farmhouse in the country. Just outside Chicago.”
“I don’t care.”
“We can make a deal!”
“I don’t make deals with monsters.”
“Please. I’m not ready to die.”
“That’s ironic. Considering you were never alive to begin with.”
“What can I do, man? I’ll do anything.”
Before this punk had her killed, being with Grace gave me a spark of hope. A feeling I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I felt something in me I thought was long gone.
Humanity.
I thought maybe, just maybe, my hunt for Jason was over.
I’d find him in the following days and make things right. I’d retire with Grace.
Memoirs of a Monster Killer: Killing Forever Book 1 Page 20