River: Ghosts Of Our Fathers Part 13

The man looked up at Steven, tears streaming down his face. "He can bring my boy back?"

Steven didn't know what to say. He just knew he needed the man to get up and follow him to the entryway, so he could talk to the man there.

"Yes, he can help your boy," Steven said, uncomfortable with the lie, but not knowing how else to get the man to move. "He might be able to save him."

A ray of hope flashed across the man's face. "Where is he?" he asked Steven. "If he can help my boy..."

"Over here," Steven said, backing up and turning to the entryway. "Through here."

The man rose from his seated position and stood facing Steven. The knife was still in his right hand, but he didn't seem angry or ready to use it. He stumbled towards Steven and the entryway. As he approached Steven stepped out of his way and pointed to the dark entryway. "There," he told the man, "he's right around the corner."

Steven saw the look of appreciation on the young man's face as he stepped towards the entryway, searching for the man who would help save his son.

The moment he pa.s.sed the entryway, the man behind the wall descended on him. The man grabbed the young man's head with both hands, holding him still.

Wait! Steven thought. I've led him to a trap.

It was too late. The mouth of the man behind the wall opened and rapidly grew until it was a foot in diameter, pus.h.i.+ng up and distorting his other facial features. His eyes turned yellow and a row of large fangs appeared inside the lips, which were stretched so far they looked like they would snap. In a quick motion reminiscent of a snake, the transformed man attacked the head of the young man he was holding, snapping three quarters of the head into his mouth. Steven heard Claire scream behind him. The young man swung his arms wildly trying to get free of the creature, the knife cutting through the air, trying to make contact with it. The arms of the creature swiftly changed from human arms to long, bent legs, coated with fine hair. They had crab-like pinchers on the end of them, and in a swift movement one of them shot out and clipped off the young man's hand at the wrist. His hand and the knife fell to the floor.

Steven could hear the young man screaming inside the mouth of the creature, which was pulling the young man's body to the ground. As it descended the creature continued to morph until it looked like a cross between a lizard and a spider. Once it reached the ground, it lunged forward towards the young man's body, taking his head further down its throat. The young man continued to thrash.

What do I do? Steven thought. How do I help him?

You can't help him now, Steven heard the creature think. But you're welcome to take some of his matter while I ingest him. It'll take me several minutes to swallow all of him.

Steven's mind reeled. He'd just helped feed this man to this creature, and now he was invited to add insult to injury by taking the man's matter against his will.

You wanted the matter, the creature thought. Take it, your share for helping me.

I didn't know you intended to kill him, Steven thought.

He's already dead, the creature thought. I'm merely ending his endless cycle of torment. Doing him a favor, really.

Looks more like you're eating him, Steven thought.

Well, yes, the creature thought, that I am. Doesn't mean you can't have some too.

Steven was disgusted. He turned to look at Claire, who had turned her head away from the scene.

Should I take it? he thought to Claire.

I don't know what to tell you, Claire thought back. It's up to you.

Steven saw the creature lunge forward again, its mouth expanding to take the young man's shoulders. The yellow eyes of the creature stared at Steven.

If I take some, Steven thought, how do I know you won't attack me, too?

I'm a ghost eater, the creature thought. Your body stinks. If I were to eat you, I'd be retching for weeks. No chance.

Why didn't you just come into the room and eat him? Steven thought. Why'd you wrap me up in your attack?

There's a barrier here at the door, the creature thought. Placed here just before his wife killed the child. I've been checking on him for years, the poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d, hoping the barrier would dissolve, but it's very strong. Stumbling across you two changed everything. I'm very grateful. Please, take your matter. You earned it.

Guilt for partic.i.p.ating in the trap racked Steven. The idea of taking the young man's matter this way seemed repellent.

The creature lunged again, its fangs rising out of the shoulders of the young man and landing squarely in his mid-back.

You'd better hurry, the creature thought. The rest goes down rather quickly, and if you're not going to take it, I'm going to.

The young man had stopped fighting the creature and was lying still on the floor. Steven knelt by the young man's feet and removed the matter knife from his pocket. When he placed his hand on the young man's leg it pa.s.sed through it, unable to make contact. But when he placed the bottom edge of the matter knife on it, it rested on top of the leg. He pressed and pulled the knife towards him, the bottom blade of the device digging into the young man and sc.r.a.ping off part of him, like a wood plane. Steven raised the knife and saw a small amount of ghost matter inside the tube.

I understand why the ghosts were p.i.s.sed about this, Steven thought. This is loathsome.

He placed the knife back at the man's legs and repeated the procedure, pressing and sc.r.a.ping several times. With each sc.r.a.pe he felt worse. He imagined his own flesh being sc.r.a.ped off in this manner, and it gave him a case of the w.i.l.l.i.e.s, his body shaking in response. He checked the tube again and saw that it was nearly full. He went down for a couple more sc.r.a.pes so he could fill it completely. As he finished the last one, the creature lunged again and its mouth took in more of the body, the fangs landing at the young man's knees. Startled, Steven fell backward and quickly exited the flow.

"Let's get out of here," he said to Claire, who nodded and followed him as he walked through the empty entryway towards the bas.e.m.e.nt's stairs.

Chapter Eleven.

His guilt over how he'd collected the ghost matter far outweighed the concern he had for the ghost in his bedroom, and Steven found it difficult to sleep. Part of him wanted to leave right away and drive all night back to Seattle, but he knew if he tried such a stunt, he'd probably drive into a ditch on the side of the road. He was exhausted and there was no way he could drive eight hours. Eventually the exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep. The wake up alarm came way too early and he slept through it. When he woke again he found himself late for breakfast. He hurriedly threw on some clothes and headed down to the dining room.

The others were already well into their meal. The table he'd dined at on his previous visits had been reserved for him, Claire, Pete, and Sarah, and it was a good thing, as the rest of the tables in the room were filled.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, pulling out his chair and sitting at the table. "This is a nice change from the last time I was here," he said, motioning to the other tables.

"Thanks to you," Sarah said, pa.s.sing him a pot of coffee.

"Claire tells us you were successful last night," Pete said. "Down in the bas.e.m.e.nt."

"Yes," Steven said, looking at Claire, who met his gaze but looked away. "I suppose we were. We got the matter, at least."

"Sounds complicated," Sarah said, picking up on the vibe between Claire and Steven.

"Let's put it this way," Claire said, "I hope to never do something like that again."

"It was for a good cause," Steven said. "It will save a man's life. But I have to agree with Claire, I don't want to ever do that again."

"What happened?" Pete asked excitedly, anxious for another good story.

Steven turned to look at Claire, wondering if he should tell them. Claire imperceptibly shook her head no.

"Trust me, Pete," Steven said, "you don't want to know. It's something even The Ghosts of Mason Manor would find too distasteful to publish."

"Oh," Pete said, a little crestfallen. "Well, I'll defer to your judgment."

"Are you heading straight back to Seattle after this?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Steven said. "I've got to get back and see if we can resuscitate Daniel. There's a lot more to do, but we've got to try."

"I hope you can," Claire said. "I always liked Daniel. He's a good person."

Steven thought Claire had emphasized the 'good' in such a way to suggest that he, Steven, was not a good person. She probably thinks I'm awful for what I did down there, he thought. Or maybe I'm just letting my guilt get to me and she didn't mean that at all.

"Thanks for your help, Claire," Steven said. Steven emphasized the 'your' a little to make sure she remembered she had been involved in the previous night's events.

"You're welcome," Claire said, glancing up. "I hope it all works out the way you want it to."

Seems neutral enough, Steven thought. Drop trying to a.n.a.lyze her and move on.

After eating a few more forkfuls of omelet Steven felt Sarah made a killer omelet he set down his utensils and thanked the group.

"I have to run," he said as he stood, swallowing a last mouthful of coffee.

"Here," Sarah said, handing him a paper cup with a plastic lid. "Some for the road. Come back anytime. And give our best to Roy. And Eliza."

"Will do, thanks," Steven said, giving everyone a quick wave and heading back up to his room. He quickly packed and opened the door to leave. There was Pete, standing in the hallway, waiting. He extended his hand towards Steven's suitcase.

"Really?" Steven said.

"I told you you'd never carry your bags in this establishment," Pete said smiling, "and I meant it."

Eight hours later Steven pulled his car into his driveway and toted his suitcase into his house. Eliza and Roy were inside, pouring over the book.

"h.e.l.lo," he said to them. Neither turned to look.

"Oh, hi," Eliza said, continuing to stare down at the pages.

"How'd it go?" Roy asked, scanning the page with Eliza.

"Looks like you've decided to share the book with her," Steven said to Roy. "Did she offer you money?"

"Kind of," Roy said. "We're trying to understand these other two objects Daniel received from Sam. So far we've not uncovered much, but you know this book, there's always something to distract your attention. She's got me explaining petrahids."

"What are petrahids?" Steven asked.

"Never mind that now," Eliza said, "how'd it go with Claire at the manor?"

"Success," Steven said, brandis.h.i.+ng the matter knife. He handed it to Roy.

"Good, it's full," Roy said.

"It was one of the worst experiences of my life," Steven said. "I can see why it's contraband and I can see why Jurgen was selling it to people; I expect people will pay to buy some rather than have to collect it in person. It was unpleasant in the extreme."

"Well, I'm glad you at least had success," Roy said. "Sam is a no-go. He only wants to get younger."

"That's OK," Steven said, "I may have a solution."

"What?" Roy asked.

"Garth," Steven replied. "He called me for a status update while I was driving back. I explained to him what's going on and he thinks he can help. He wants to meet with us as soon as we can get down to Olympia. I told him we'd try to make it down tonight."

Steven looked at Eliza.

"Go," she said. "I'll stay here with Daniel. He's doing OK. And I can finish up the recipes."

"All right," Steven said. "Do you mind driving, Dad? I'm tired."

"Well it's not an American car," Roy said, "but I suppose I can drive it since this is urgent."

Steven knew Roy was poking at him, but he resisted the urge to take Roy's bait and get into an argument about foreign cars. He just didn't have the energy, and he wanted to save what he had for the meeting with Garth.

"We'll be back," Steven said to Eliza, "in four or five hours, depending on traffic. Let's go, dad."

"Just a second," Roy said, walking into another room. He returned carrying a large box by a handle. The box was covered with a cloth.

"What's that?" Steven asked.

Roy raised the cloth and Steven saw that the box was actually a cage. Inside the cage was a rat.

"Where'd you get it?" Steven asked.

"Petco," Roy said. "The cage too. Cheap."

"Why? Why do you have a rat?" Steven said.

"If Garth can help us, we may need it," Roy said. "I bought it on my way up to meet with Sam."

"Why would we need a rat?"

"If Sam had agreed to the fusing, we'd have needed a way to physically bring him here, to Daniel."

"You're telling me Sam would have gone into the rat?" Steven said.

"It's called possession," Roy said. "And yes, that's exactly what would have happened. If Garth has found a soul willing to fuse with Daniel, we'll need this rat to bring it back."

"You've done this before?" Steven asked.

"Possession?" Roy said. "No, never. Just read about it."