River: Ghosts Of Our Fathers Part 19

Jason arrived at Bent's five minutes later than his father. Steven had commandeered a booth, and Jason joined him, slipping into the vinyl seat.

"I figured I could lure you with a free burger," Steven said.

"I'll stay even longer if you throw in a free beer," Jason said, grabbing the menu from the edge of the table.

"How old are you? Twenty?" Steven asked. "It's called 'contributing to the delinquency of a minor.'"

"And what do they call infecting a man with invisible parasites?"

"Before you get on your high horse," Steven said, "that was done to benefit you."

"Yeah, well, watching Daniel die at the edge of the lake didn't seem like much of a benefit."

"You'll never get a free beer out of me that way," Steven said, returning to his menu.

The server showed up and they both placed an order.

"Sorry," Jason said after the server left. "I didn't mean to get off on the wrong foot. I'm just a little shaken by that whole thing. And the blow up between you and Grandpa Roy."

"That's all been patched up," Steven lied. "We mutually apologized and we've moved on."

"It's not like you and Grandpa Roy were ever close, anyway," Jason said.

"That's true. But things have changed in the past few months. We're closer now than we've ever been."

"Something changed?"

The server arrived with their drinks. Steven paused until the server had left.

"Yes," Steven said. "It changed. I had an incident at my house. Several months ago. Roy helped me resolve it."

"What kind of incident?"

"Well, how about we just call it an 'unusual incident' and leave it at that?"

"Dad," Jason said, "I don't think I really want to have this conversation if you're only going to be half-open with me. I'm not some little kid that needs protecting."

"If you'd seen the things I've seen in the past little while," Steven said, "you might disagree."

"Let me be the judge."

Steven took a long sip of his iced tea and leaned back into the cus.h.i.+ons of the booth. He looked at Jason, who was staring back at him, almost a challenge. Do I protect him? he thought. Is leaving him in the dark the best way to protect him? Or does that put him at greater risk?

"When I moved into the house," Steven said, "I began seeing things at night. I'd be woken up in the middle of the night by knockings in the house. Then I'd see things, horrible things. I thought I was going crazy. I thought I had a brain tumor. Roy stepped in. He told me that I was fine, but the house was haunted. So we went about getting rid of the ghosts. It's a long story. But over the course of it I found out a lot of things about myself and your grandpa."

"Ghosts and haunted houses don't sound like you," Jason said, adding a couple of sugar packets to his iced tea. "You're the most rational person I know. Remember when I brought home that book on UFOs? I thought you were going to go bonkers."

"Trust me, I tried every rational explanation. Then I ran into some facts that changed my mind."

"Such as?"

"The River, for one."

"Ah, you mentioned that the other night."

"Have you ever gone in it?" Steven asked.

"Gone in it? I don't understand."

"Jumped into it. Let yourself drift mentally until you fall into it. That's what it feels like for me."

"No, I don't even know what you're talking about. Seriously, Dad, if you could hear yourself."

"I understand how it sounds. I'll stop if you're finding this too hard to believe."

"It's hard to believe, but continue, please."

"OK, so the River was one thing. Roy's abilities and his book were another."

"Grandpa Roy wrote a book?"

"It's a book he's added to, but it came from his father, and his father, and so on. Several generations."

"What's in it?"

"A history of all the weird s.h.i.+t they've dealt with over the years. You wouldn't believe it."

Now Jason looked interested, and a little stunned.

"Weird s.h.i.+t? Like what?"

"You name it. Ghosts, evil spirits, demons, creatures, the whole lot."

"Grandpa Roy wrote this?"

"Some of it, yes."

"And he's writing about his experiences?"

"Yes."

"And the purpose of the book, he's going to give it to you?"

"Yes, someday I expect."

"Then you'll start writing in it?"

"Yes, I guess I will."

"And does that mean that someday it comes to me?"

"I don't know. I suppose that's up to you, and to me."

The server arrived with their food, and pa.s.sed out extra napkins and condiments. "Anything else I can get you?" she asked.

"Nope, looks good," Jason said.

"She's cute," Steven said as their server walked away.

Jason gave him a pathetic glance and went about eating his French fries.

"I see you still eat the French fries first," Steven said.

"The best part."

"So, anyway, after Roy helped me with my house problem, he and I went down to Oregon and helped some friends of his. They own a bed and breakfast outside of Medford, but it's far bigger than any B&B you've ever been to. Built in 1850. And full of ghosts. That's where I met Eliza."

"Oh," Jason said around bites of food. "I like her."

"Yes, everybody likes her."

"And Daniel? How did you meet him?"

"He's a friend...was a friend of Eliza's. When you and I were attacked in our sleep last week, I called Eliza for help because your grandpa was out boating with a friend of his. She referred me to Daniel. He was an expert in everything time related. It was Daniel who helped me figure out about Frank and how to eliminate him."

"And who exactly is Frank?" Jason asked.

Steven backtracked and filled Jason in on the recent events that had lead up to Daniel's death.

"So you saw something come out of his head, at the lake?" Jason asked.

"I entered the flow. I suspected something was happening that we couldn't see. Things had been so strange, his odd obsession with water since he was revived. As he was walking to the water, he kept saying he couldn't control himself. At first I thought it was Sean, but when he kneeled down and bent over, it felt like something else was happening, so I jumped into the River. The stalk coming out of his head was unlike anything I've ever seen."

"A stroma," Jason said. "It's called a stroma."

"What's that?"

"I learned it in Biology cla.s.s. They come out of insects and animals after they've been used by parasites. They're called 'zombie parasites' because they control the body of the host, usually getting it to do something so they can reproduce. I've seen pictures of huge stalks coming out of ant's heads, really gross. And many of them drive their host to water, since they need water to reproduce."

"Christ, it appears I'm getting something for my money," Steven said. "This was all from a biology cla.s.s?"

"In high school, Dad. I'm not taking any life sciences in college."

"Still, that's impressive. I've never heard of zombie parasites before."

"Here, hold on." Jason removed his phone and began typing in a browser. Soon he turned the phone to Steven, showing him the pictures. Steven saw the ant and an impossibly long stalk shooting out of its head.

"It was kind of like that," Steven said. "It came up out of him, bent at one point at about a ninety degree angle towards the water, and had a bulb on the end where the seeds came out."

"Yup, zombie parasite."

"I'm guessing the centipedes laid eggs in him?" Steven asked.

"I'm guessing that too," Jason said, taking the phone back. "These parasites have weird life cycles. And who knows since yours were invisible. Invisible. Do you know how weird it feels to say that word with a straight face?"

"I felt the same way when I was first learning all this," Steven said. "I'm still a little shocked at some of the things I run into. I shouldn't be, but I am. I've been a skeptic my whole life, it's hard to get rid of."

"Well, I was never a skeptic," Jason said. "I wanted to read that UFO book. I ate it up."

"See, even now I discount the idea. Ghosts, yes. UFOs, no. I know, it makes no sense."

"So were you going to tell me about this?" Jason said, finis.h.i.+ng his burger. Steven hadn't even started his yet.

"Eventually," Steven said. "I thought I'd wait until you were at least out of college and settled. Roy didn't introduce it to me until now, and look at me, I'm in my fifties. He wasn't in any rush so I figured I didn't need to be with you."

"How old was Grandpa Roy when his father told him?"

"Twelve, fourteen, something like that."

"Why do you think he waited so long to tell you?"

"We were never close. Your grandma made me and Uncle Bernie go to church frequently. She saw it as a way to keep us safe from Roy's abilities. She helped create a gulf between me and Roy. One I regret."

"Maybe he felt you were too skeptical, too. Like you wouldn't believe it if he told you."

"Yes, that was probably part of it. Even when he did tell me I didn't believe it. It took a while. Seeing ghosts in my house sped the process along." Steven smiled.

"So what happens next?" Jason asked. "You going to train me?"

"You'd want that?"

"Sure, why not. Seems like it's a birthright or something. Wouldn't want to let the family down."

"I guess you could benefit from Roy. I'm still learning from him. No reason you couldn't jump in and learn too. But I worry about you. That's the main reason I didn't want to tell you about this. It's been dangerous, as you saw. Roy and I have come across some very dangerous and evil people and creatures."

"Ooo, sounds like a scary horror movie!"

Steven sighed. Jason was taking it cavalierly, which was exactly what he'd been afraid of. It would take an experience or two before he'd take it seriously. It was too late now; no putting the toothpaste back in the tube.

"Before we can do anything with Roy," Steven said. "We need him to come back safely. He's put his life on the line with this. If he fails, he won't come back."

"When will you know?" Jason said, sipping the last of his iced tea.

"I don't know how long it will take. Maybe a day or two. Maybe longer. We just have to wait and see."

"You'll let me know? When he's back?"

"I will," Steven said, lying. If Roy was successful, he knew it was a promise he'd never have to fulfill.