Awakening (17 page)

I could do this. Luke was here. I was
not alone. I focused on the spot above the table and slowly an
image began to form. A white shimmering light began to wave in and
out, and ever so slowly an outline came into focus. A face, there
was a face. I could just make it out as it flickered in and out of
the sunlight streaming through the window.

I tried to force the panic from my
voice. “It looks like a child.”

Luke’s arm tightened around me.
“Good.”

“
He’s small, maybe ten or
eleven years old.”

“
Ask for a name. Ask out
loud, ‘What’s your name?’”

My lips trembled as I forced the words
out, “Who are you?”

“
Thomas.” The word floated
past me as if carried on the wind.

“
He says his name is
Thomas.”

The presence moved toward me, and I
instinctively began to back up.

“
Stand your ground. Don’t
be afraid,” Luke said. “Trust me. It’s okay, you’re not in any
danger.”

The shadow continued forward until it
was directly before me. And then I felt the sensation of small
fingers caressing my arm.

“
Colina,” the child-like
voice said my name.

“
He just said my
name.”

“
Good. Ask him what he
wants.”

I spoke again, but this time my voice
was stronger and calmer, “What do you want?”

“
A message…for you.” The
words were there again, and with them a warm tingle of air
fluttered against my cheek.

“
What’s the
message?”

The words this time slid across my
brain. “He’s coming for you.”

Small invisible fingers were running
down my hand.

“
Who?” I asked, trying not
to freak out and pull my arm back.

“
The one you’ve been
seeking.” There was a childlike giggle and then the words, “he
doesn’t like it that you got away. You’re the one that got away.” I
felt a tug on my hair. “It won’t be long now. He’ll find
you.”

A cupboard door banged open and shut
once and then twice.

“
Who will?” I
demanded.

“
Are you ready for judgment
day?” the boy whispered and then vanished in front of
me.

I shook my head trying to make sense
of what the child had said. I raised trembling hands to my face,
turned and looked at Luke. “The boy, he didn’t try to possess
me.”

“
Most won’t. They want only
to be seen and acknowledged.” His hand came up and gently brushed
the bangs out of my face. “The ones that possess have a powerful
need. They weren’t ready to die and will do anything to try and
make it back into this world.”

“
And what happens,” I tried
to get the words out. “When they take over a person and you can’t
get them out?”

“
Usually it’s when they
jump into someone who has natural abilities, but no idea how to use
them. These people are unprepared for the assault, and when it
happens, they’re pushed back and left helpless.
Trapped.”

At the very thought, a shiver ran down
my spine. “And the spirits, they stay inside them
forever?”

His expression turned grim. “The
spirits use these unsuspecting people, these vessels, to make their
way through the world. How long they stay depends on how strong
they are.”
Luke’s fingers wrapped around mine. “Your hand is freezing. When
spirits come forth, they tend to bring down the temperature. How
about some hot chocolate or tea to help warm you up?”

I didn’t want him to move away. It
felt good having his body against mine again. I gave him a smile.
“Tea sounds good.”

He let go of my hand and made his way
back into the kitchen.

I followed behind him.

He grabbed an electric kettle off the
counter and started filling it with water from the sink. “And the
insane,” he suddenly said.

“
The insane?” I
asked.

The kettle was filled, and he plugged
it in and pointed toward the cupboard. “Grab a couple mugs, will
you. People who don’t have full control of their capacities.
They’re always on the edge of reality anyway. And those who are on
the edge can be easily manipulated by the dead.”

I opened the cupboard and pulled out
two red mugs. “How can you tell if you meet someone who’s
possessed, someone who has a spirit commanding them?”

He pulled out two bags of tea from a
canister on the countertop. “You can tell sometimes, but not
always. You can feel the wrongness inside them. You feel it in your
gut.”

I set the mugs down in front of him.
“But this spirit, the one that just came to me, you met him
before?”

“
He’s a young child whose
family used to live here.” Luke pointed toward the floor. “Not in
this barn, but on this same piece of land years ago before it was a
barn. He died of a fever. He’s bound to this particular
spot.”

“
And he can’t go to the
light?” I asked.

Luke shook his head. “No.”

“
So he just stays
here?”

Luke gave me a ghost of a smile. “We
share our space with spirits all the time.”

I looked around the room, a feeling of
dread filling me. Was another spirit going to pop out at any
minute? “And they always contact you when they’re
around?”

He shook his head. “Not
always.”

“
But you know when they’re
around? When they’re in the room?” I asked, looking around the
room. It was no longer cold, and I felt normal, did that mean we
were for the moment alone?

“
Yes, you can feel their
presence.”

For the rest of my life, I was going
to be bombarded with spirits. I was having a hard time getting my
mind around it. “And what do you do if you don’t want to
communicate with them, but they want to talk to you?”

He put a tea bag in each mug and
reached over and grabbed the kettle. He slowly filled each cup with
hot water. “You learn how to tune out. How to sort of turn it off.
And that works in most cases, but if a spirit is strong enough,
desperate enough to communicate with you, it will.”

My hands went to my head again. I
would be like this forever. Any place I walked into now I would be
seeing spirits. My life had just turned into a new type of
nightmare.

He turned and gave me a reassuring
smile. “I promise it gets easier with practice. It’s something you
grow accustomed to.”

I looked at him like he’d lost his
mind. I couldn’t imagine ever getting used to talking to the
dead.

“
Have you felt anyone from
your family since last night?”

His question stopped me in my tracks.
“No.”

“
It’s easier at night when
the world is quiet, when people settle down, to hear the spirits.
We’ll see if they come to you tonight.” He handed me a
mug.

I took it and wrapped my fingers
around it. It was warm and felt good against my cold fingers. I
took a sip and looked at him over the rim of my cup. “And if they
don’t?”

He leaned against the counter. “They
will. And we’ll find Darla.”

He sounded so sure of himself. “And
the last ritual?”

“
I’m working on
it.”

“
Why can’t we get it done
tonight?” I wanted to get it over with as soon as
possible.

“
I don’t have what I need
for it yet, but I will soon.”

I wanted to ask him what he was
waiting for, what new horrifying situation I was going to find
myself in, but I couldn’t force the words out.

“
Before I forget.” Luke put
his mug down and reached into his pocket and pulled out the gypsy’s
pouch. “Until you learn how to protect yourself, this will keep you
closed off. It will keep anything from trying to posses
you.”

I reached for it, but he pulled it
away. “The thing is, we want your family to contact you. You need
to stay open. So I don’t want you to use the pouch yet.” He put the
pouch down on the counter. “But later I’ll need you to carry it
with you.”

I reached for my toast. It was cold. I
dropped it back onto the plate. I had suddenly lost my appetite.
“So what’s the plan for the day?”

“
We are heading to the
hospital.”

I turned and stared at him. “Are you
okay? Are you feeling sick?”

He gave me a smile. “I’m fine. There’s
just an errand I have to run, and someone I have to see. Drink your
tea, it’s getting cold.”

There was something about his
expression when he answered the question. I had been with him long
enough I was now able to read his body language and moods. I had
the strongest feeling he wasn’t telling me the whole truth. A
shiver ran down my spine. I wondered what was really going on and
what he wasn’t telling me.

* * * *

The rest of the morning was relatively
normal. No spirits showed up. No ghostly boy dropped by to give me
more messages. Luke spent most of the morning on the phone.
Whatever he was planning he didn’t want me within earshot of his
conversations. Every time I wandered his way he’d make a, none too
subtle, move to another room. If the guy wanted to keep secrets, so
be it. He couldn’t leave me in the dark forever. Not if he wanted
my help.

Sometime after three, he announced
that it was time to head to the hospital. I grabbed a short black
coat from pagan’s closet and found a pair of elbow high black and
white striped fingerless gloves. The weather outside had turned
chilly.

Storm clouds were gathering overhead
and when he opened the front door, and we stepped out, I could see
my breath. I stood in the doorway and buttoned my coat.

Luke came to my side. He was wearing a
black parka. He reached into his pocket and held out the
pouch.

I took the pouch from his hand, but I
didn’t hide the surprise I was feeling. “I can have it
now?”

He nodded his head. “You’ll need it
where we’re going. Ready?”

“
Yes,” I answered, but for
what I had no idea.

Inside the car, Luke turned up the
radio, which made conversation impossible. There were quite a few
questions I wanted to ask him swirling around in my head. What was
with all the mysterious phone calls? Why were we going to the
hospital? What did the last ritual entail?

I looked over at him. He looked
relaxed. He was singing along to a song on the radio, but there was
an apprehension about him, a tension radiating off of him. A look
in his eyes that set my nerves on end.

When we finally pulled up into the
hospital parking lot, the tension building inside me was almost
unbearable.

What the heck are we doing
here?
I wanted to shout at him.

Luke shut off the car and turned
toward me. “The pouch, you should wear it around your neck. It will
give you the best protection that way.”

I took the pouch out of my pocket and
set it in my lap. I slowly started to unwind the leather wrapped
around the top of it.

He slid closer to me. “Here, let me
help.”

I handed him the pouch and lifted my
hair off my neck. “How long are we going to be at the
hospital?”

“
Not too long.” He lifted
the pouch and wrapped it around my neck. He slowly tied the two
pieces of leather together. His fingers lingered for a moment on
the base of my neck.

Delicious sensations ran across my
skin where his fingers grazed across my neck.

Luke edged his body closer.

My breath hitched in the back of my
throat.

“
There’s something you have
to know,” he said, his voice low.

I turned and faced him.

“
Now that you’re one of us,
the hospital…” he seemed to be searching for words. “It’s not an
easy place to be. There are a lot of souls passing, a lot of
spirits lingering around.”

My hand went to the pouch around my
neck. “But this will keep them from bothering me.”

“
Not entirely. They won’t
be able to possess you, but it’s not strong enough magic to keep
them completely at bay. You’ll be able to feel them around. You’ll
be able to sense them. Maybe see and hear them.”

I couldn’t keep the horror I was
feeling from showing on my face.

He reached out and grabbed my hand. “I
wouldn’t have brought you here, not so soon after you’ve done the
first two rituals, but we’re running out of time. You have to get
used to dealing with spirits. You have to learn how to trust and
use your new abilities. We don’t have the luxury of taking things
slow. Normally you’d be eased into dealing with the spirits, you’d
have a lot of time to adjust, but…” he looked away.

I squeezed his hand. “It’s
all right. The only thing that matters is getting your sister
back.”
I said it out loud, but I knew as
the words left my mouth it wasn’t true. Finding the men who killed
my family and making them pay was the one thing that kept me
going.