Scribner Horror Bundle: Four Horror Novels by Joshua Scribner (52 page)

The charge grew to such a level that
James could hear it, a steady hum. He wasn’t sure if, had there
been someone there with him, that they would have heard it too. It
might just have been his ears picking up on what was going on
inside him.

James finally realized that something
was developing in his body, nothing solid, but a presence.
Intellectually, he thought it might be wise to stop this process,
that he should be careful. But he wasn’t about to stop it. Stopping
it would be like turning off the best movie he had ever seen or the
best piece of music he had ever heard. The feeling inside,
something combining with the unnatural heat he had been feeling the
last few days, was one hundred times better than any sensation he
was used to. Nothing in life could be worth more than
this.

The current stopped, leaving James
with something. He got off the rock and moved down the hill. He
could feel it there with him. It was sedentary, but it was there.
He thought it had taken the heat or combined with it in some way.
As he moved down the hill, and then towards home, James attended to
it. He could sense it, like he could sense his stomach or his
biceps. But it was perfectly still. James couldn’t wait for
whatever had come inside him to move.

***

“James,” Dr. Porter’s voice said over
the phone. “How are you?”

James hated to be disrupted in what he
was doing. Since he had arrived home he had been in his basement,
waiting, attending to the presence inside him. But he had
anticipated this call.

“I’m fine, Doctor. And I apologize for
not showing today.”

“No apology is necessary, James. As
you know, the sessions are always optional. I just wanted to check
in to see how you were doing.”

“Oh. I’m doing fine. I’ve had
absolutely no anxiety. In fact, I’ve been outside everyday. I’m
just kind of taking it all in.”

“That’s what I hoped you’d say.
Wonderful.”

“And it is all thanks to you, Dr.
Porter. I am truly grateful.”

“No, it’s not entirely due to me,
James. But your compliment is appreciated. I won’t bother you much
longer. I’m sure you’re ready to get back to your new
life.”

“Oh, you’re no bother at all,” James
said, though he didn’t mean it. He suspected there were a lot of
things Dr. Porter had not anticipated. He wasn’t sure what Dr.
Porter would think about what happened on the hill. He didn’t want
the doctor’s hands in it, and he feared this expert on the human
psyche might sense that James wasn’t being altogether forward with
him.

“Well, I doubt that’s entirely true,
James. So I’ll be brief. I just wanted to know if you had
experienced anything out of the ordinary.”

It was a question James had
anticipated. “Well, other than just being completely free to move
around, nothing at all.”

“Good,” Dr. Porter replied, seemingly
unsuspicious. “Let me know if anything comes up. The group meets
again at the same time next week, if you would like to attend.
Otherwise, I’ll keep in touch.”

James seriously doubted he would want
to attend. “Okay, Doctor. And thank you for all you’ve
done.”

“You take care of yourself,
James.”

“I will. Goodbye.”

***

“James,” came reverberating from the
outside, and he came back to a familiar reality. But though his
reality was familiar, he had to stop and think about his
location.

“Are you all right,
sweetheart?”

James turned to look at his mother,
who stood in the light of the kitchen. “Yes,” he said, but he was
still putting it all together. He had fallen asleep and become
something else, something amazing, something that was now
gone.

James wasn’t sure what his mother had
seen him do. The last thing he remembered was lying in bed, waiting
for the presence to move. The presence must have waited for him to
fall asleep and then taken him over. He’d have to deal with that
later. Right now he had to deal with his mom.

“I’m fine, Mom, really. Why do you
ask?”

His mom stared at him for a second,
and then she shrugged and gave him the context he needed. “I just
got up to get a drink, and I saw you standing there at the top of
the stairs.”

James snickered. “I guess I got up for
the same reason. I got here and then just started thinking about my
new life and how wonderful things are going to be from now
on.”

Now his mother was pleased. She hugged
him. “Your father and I are so happy for you, dear.”

Free from the embrace, James went to
the refrigerator and got a Ginger Ale. “I was craving this,” he
said. “Didn’t have any downstairs.”

James walked past his smiling mother
again, said, “Goodnight,” then proceeded downstairs.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” he heard her
say.

James took a drink from the ginger ale
and placed the rest in his refrigerator. He could feel the
presence. It was still again, though. He knew he could control it,
but not if he was asleep.

“Wait,” he said out loud. “It will be
better for you if we work together.”

James went back to bed.

***

Toby awoke with the heat inside him
burning hotter than ever. He smelled the frying meat from the other
room, a fragrance he had always hated but learned to live with. But
now, that was what the heat wanted.

Toby got out of bed and slipped on a
pair of shorts. He walked to the dining room, where his father
drank coffee and read a newspaper.

“Good morning, Son.”

Toby, with his throat not yet awake,
simply nodded his morning greeting and then made his way to the
kitchen. His mother stood over the stove, tending to eggs and
bacon. His stomach stirred at the overpowering scent, and the heat
rose more, demanding he not wait. His mom didn’t notice him until
he stood right beside her.

“Whoa!” she said, placing a gentle arm
in front of him. “That bacon grease pops. You don’t want to get too
close.”

Toby tried to speak but his throat was
still not ready. He ended up opening his mouth and making a slight
croaking sound.

His mom laughed affectionately. “What
do you need, hon?”

Toby pointed.

Suddenly, his mother’s face was both
shocked and delighted. “Well, your dad and brother like it crisp,
but I think it’s edible right now.” She sat a couple of pieces on a
paper-towel-lined plate. “Just let them cool for . . .”

Before she could finish, Toby snatched
a piece of bacon and shoved it in his mouth. It was very hot and
burned his tongue. But it wasn’t anything like meat usually was to
him. He didn’t think about it as a piece of flesh from a disgusting
animal. It didn’t have the slimy texture that all food used to
have. It was quite good, and he could sense it combining with the
heat inside him.

Toby chewed it fast and swallowed. He
grabbed the second piece and gobbled it down. He looked at his
mother, who was crying and smiling at the same time.

“Can you make my eggs scrambled?” he
asked.

***

They had finally left. Mom and Dad had
made plans for all of them on Sunday. James had told them he had
not slept well and was too tired to go out today. He felt bad for
his parents and hated to tell them no. For the first time in their
life, they had the opportunity to do with their child the things
they had expected they would be able to do with him when they
brought him into this world. There was so much they wanted to show
him, so much to teach him.

“They’ll be other times,” James had
said to them. “I’m better now, and I’ll be better from here on out.
There’s no reason to rush.”

They had reluctantly left him alone in
the house. As soon as they were gone, James retreated to his
basement. But he didn’t go there because he was afraid. No, he
wasn’t afraid of the outside. He was just fascinated with what was
inside him, what he had brought in from the outside. His basement
provided the most solitude he could get. He didn’t know what was
going to happen.

James sat in his favorite chair. He
relaxed as much as he could and focused on the presence. As far as
he knew, it had not taken him over again after he’d returned to bed
last night. Now he was ready to communicate further with
it.

“Who are you?” he asked.

James continued to relax. He felt the
presence move a little inside him. He felt it take a little of the
control he gave it. His lungs filled with air. The muscles in his
neck tensed. But then the presence backed off. James waited for a
couple of minutes, but the presence remained still.

“Okay,” James said. “I feel that I can
push you out of me anytime I want. And I think you probably sense
that too. That’s why you waited until I was asleep to take me over.
You thought you could just slip past me.” James waited, and the
presence remained still. “But I don’t want to push you out. I like
the way you feel inside me. And though it’s hard to remember, being
that I was asleep, I think I must have enjoyed it while you were at
the controls.”

Awakening from the presence’s control
last night had been like awakening from a really good dream that he
couldn’t remember. It was like he had just been flying.

“The benefit of me allowing you to
take over for a while will be mutual.” Again, James waited. But the
presence still didn’t respond. It probably didn’t trust him yet.
“You don’t have to tell me who you are. But tell me what you
are.”

James relaxed and focused on the
presence. Soon, it moved. It took over the muscles it needed, and
James allowed it. His lips moved and his voice said, “I am a
spirit.”

The spirit retreated, as if frightened
by what it had done. Then it was still again.

“Tell me more,” James said.

A few seconds later, the spirit said,
“I have been roaming the sky for several years now. I have tried to
inhabit many people and many things. I had not succeeded. I had no
impact at all. And then I saw you from the sky. You were on that
hill. Something was coming from you, and I was attracted to it. I
went inside you and could feel myself blending with it.”

James easily retook control. “Why have
you been trying to possess things?”

At that question, the spirit was
still. James waited for a little while and then said, “Fine. You
don’t have to answer that. But do tell me this. Last night, when
you took over my body, did you have something in mind?” Again there
was no response. James said, “Keep in mind that I may want to give
you control. I may want to help you.”

After a little while, the spirit moved
and used James’s mouth to say, “Yes. I was going to do something
I’ve waited years to do, ever since my death.”

James smiled. He liked that. He, after
being trapped from a normal life for so many years, was beginning
to think he might be able to have experiences far more tantalizing
than anyone had ever had.

“I want to help you,” James said. “But
no more taking me over while I sleep. I want to be a part of
it.”

After a few seconds, the spirit said,
“No matter what it is?”

James thought for a little while and
then asked, “Can we do it without me getting in
trouble?”

After a few seconds, the spirit said,
“Have you ever been in trouble before?”

“No,” James responded.

James was getting faster at letting
the spirit have control, and the spirit was getting faster at
taking it. They were approaching real time.

“Then we can do it in such a way that
no one would ever suspect you.”

“Good,” James said. “But remember
this. If you try to trick me, I’ll figure it out. And I think we
both sense that I can trap you inside me. Any ramifications I
suffer, you’ll be there to suffer too.”

James wasn’t sure that he would really
be able to make the spirit feel the ramifications. But he sensed
that after a little more time and practice in being possessed, he’d
soon develop the ability to make his body a prison.

“Fine,” the spirit said. “You can
trust me.”

James smiled. “When do we
start?”

***

It was just after midnight when James,
sitting in his chair, down in his basement, relaxed himself enough
that the spirit could take over. The spirit rose immediately. It
crept his body upstairs. Then it shut the basement door, ensuring
that if one of his parents got up during the night, they’d think
James was downstairs sleeping. The spirit even used the key James
had stuck in his pocket earlier to lock the back door on the way
out.

James was very satisfied with how the
spirit proceeded. It was mindful of James’s culpability in every
step. They didn’t take one of his parents’ cars. Instead, they
walked about a mile to get someone else’s vehicle. In a driveway of
a beaten down old house, they got into a dilapidated Oldsmobile.
The spirit spoke.

“This car belongs to an old friend of
mine. And when I say old, I mean old. And old people have habits
that die hard.”