Demon Street Blues (11 page)

He saw his parents laughing.

“I guess that might scare away some people,” his mother said.

“Still, let’s be careful. I would bet my life there are very dangerous things protecting this power source.”

“It’s probably not the power source anyway. How many times have we thought we’d found it?” 

“You’re probably right, but maybe this time we’ll get lucky.”

Catherine rolled her eyes and they continued forward. Soon the tunnels split into two directions.

“Do we split up or stick together?” Catherine asked.

“I don’t like the idea of splitting up, especially since we don’t know what obstacles we might come up against.”

“So which way then?”

Jack pointed right, and continued onward. Not ten steps in they sprung another trap. This one, much more dangerous. A pit was opening underneath their feet, Catherine slipped in, losing her footing.

Michael could not see into the dark chasm. But he watched as his father grabbed onto his mother and pulled her out. As her body got free, a torrent of sheeted blackness shot out from the hole.

“Son of a bitch!” shouted Jack, covering his wife’s body with his own. Once gone, he jumped up. “It’s a malevolent force, no doubt. I’m guessing it’s been imprisoned for a long time.”

“How do we fight it?” Catherine shouted over the whirling blackness that now raced for the cave’s entrance and its freedom.

“I don’t know but we cannot let it escape. Who knows what kind of
evil
this thing is.” Jack proceeded to chase after the unknown evil. Catherine dragged behind him a few steps, trying to keep up, as she searched her pockets, taking out a few potion vials.

Michael watched his mother’s death unfold before his eyes.

The whirling blackness twisted in circles like a tornado, blowing out his mother’s torch. She screamed, tripping over a jutting branch. The potions flew out of her hands, smashing against the hard cave wall. One of the bottles broke, splashing the contents onto Catherine’s face, leaking into her mouth.

She knew instantly she would die. The potion she’d swallowed included substances no human could ingest and survive. She had no protective witch’s blood coursing through her veins. It took only seconds for her body to weaken. She used all her strength to pick up her head and call out to her husband.

He hadn’t seen what had happened, and even if he had, there was nothing he could have done. He was fighting this streaming blackness with every ounce of strength he could muster. Sending spell after spell at the thing, and watching, horrified as each one simply passed through it like it was made of air.

Jack shouted for Catherine. When she did not return his call, he looked back into the cave and saw her lying on the ground. He raced to her, no longer caring about the evil he could not stop from escaping.

Catherine opened her eyes just in time to see him lean down in front of her.

She, in turn, watched in wide-eyed fear as the blackness followed, surging over him and engulfing her husband’s body. It gyrated its way out of the cave, taking Jack Howard with it.

“Jack…” Catherine whispered with her last breath.

Her head fell to the ground and the death reading ended.

Michael gasped loudly and let go of his mother’s hand.

It took him a moment to remember he was in the bookstore.

Catherine had seen everything along with Michael, and a great sadness spread across her face.

Michael could not speak. His mind blank other than the images he’d just seen rolling through, like a movie projector replaying the scene of her death over and over.

“Now that I have seen it, it is a wonder that I could have forgotten,” Catherine spoke thoughtfully. “Perhaps I just didn’t want to relive the moment.”

The others, of course, wanted desperately to know what Michael had seen, but dared not ask upon seeing his distraught face.

Michael was in disbelief that a potion had taken the life of his mother. Such a stupid thing it seemed.
A fucking potion…
A simple thing like tripping and smashing open a vial. They used potions all the time. Never once had it occurred to him they could potentially be harmful. Of course they had witch blood, his mother had not.
Like Emily
, he couldn’t help but think.
Or even Eva Jordan
... they had handed her a few vials while in the cave, not even thinking about the consequences. They would need to be much more careful in the future.

And just what exactly was the streaming blackness that had taken his father? He had never seen such a thing before. Was his father still alive? A prisoner somewhere perhaps. He could only speculate and already dreaded the moment that would soon come when he would need to explain what he had seen to his family.

Catherine Howard looked upon her children and William, with great love and sadness. “My business here is finished and I’m afraid the pull to move on is stronger than I can fight.”

William stepped forward and took hold of Catherine’s hand, kissing it gently in farewell.

“Thank you for watching over my children, William.”

“Until I am no more, I will protect this family.”

“You’re a good man, William.”

“And you are always too kind,” he replied, at her use of the word, man.

“I don’t know what this family ever did to deserve you, but I am forever grateful.”

Her voice lowered suddenly, so only William could hear her speak.

The siblings had no idea what she told him, but he let out a shocked exhale, a horrified look flitting across his face. “No. I could never… no…” he tore away from her abruptly, as if her words had cut him open. He turned away from them, hiding his face.

What could their mother have said that upset him so badly?

Something she wanted to keep from them? Some piece of terrible news she could not handle telling them in person? Or was it something more personal. Either way, they’d never seen William react in such a fashion.

Catherine turned to her children.

Charlie stepped forward and embraced her before she could disappear. “I won’t stop looking for Dad, however long it takes,” he promised her.

She cupped his face. “I know. And I don’t want you to. But Charlie, don’t forget to live a little in between your duties. I know us leaving you so suddenly put a lot of responsibility on your shoulders and for that, I’m sorry.”

“I’d always rather have you here, Mom. But I don’t mind the job. I like what I’m doing, it feels right for me.”

“You are so much like your father,” she chuckled. “Just promise me you’ll try to have a normal life, too. I may not be here with you, but I’d like to have grandchildren to watch over.”

He lowered his eyes, cheeks set aflame.  “I’ll do my best,” he promised, stepping back. “After I find Dad,” he clarified with a stubborn smile.

She sent him a stern, but proud motherly look.

“That sentiment goes for you all,” she told her children. “You are the future of the Howard line. You must
live
. It cannot always be the job. If I learned anything during my life, it was to take the time to live.” At that moment, Catherine’s voice flickered, Emily’s surfacing. Their mother’s voice returned as the Howard siblings looked on, frozen and helpless. They could not stop the inevitable.

“Melinda,” called out their mother. She joined her. “I always thought I’d be here to help you through these years. But since time is short I’ll give you this advice. Young hearts are fickle. They don’t always know what they want.”

“You can say that again. Minute to minute, I don’t even know.”

Her mother smiled, understanding. “Just know that one day, Melinda, it could be next month, it might not for years, but one day you’ll just know. With such absolute certainty you’ll be willing to bet your life on it. And when
that
happens, don’t let
anything
stop you from taking what makes you happy.” Her eyes grazed over to William, who could not look Catherine in the face. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Your brothers. Your friends. Even what you believe me, or your father, would think. If it makes
you
happy.
Do it.
”

“Okay,” Melinda squeaked out. Tears flowed freely.

Why couldn’t that moment of clarity happen now? She wasn’t sure she could survive through months, or potentially years, waiting for her heart to make up its mind.

How was it, even dead, her mother knew exactly what she needed to hear? She hugged her a final time. “I love you so much, Mom. I miss you every minute.”

“I’ll always be looking in on you.” Catherine’s spirit body pulsed inside of Emily’s human body. Her time was running out and she could not keep possession of Emily’s body any longer. She faced everyone, her voice now a distant echo.

“Michael, Emily’s coming back to you now. Take care of her. She is very special.”

He wrapped his arms around his mother, saying a silent goodbye.

The siblings joined each other, William turned to cast a final farewell, his face hardened stone. They wondered if he’d ever share what their mother had told him.

“Be good to each other,” Catherine called out, her voice an echo. “I love you all so very much.”

Her spirit pulsated and left Emily’s body, dissolving into nothing.

Then, the final part of Melinda’s prophetic dream came true.

Emily’s body slumped to the ground; her eyes open wide, unblinking, as if frozen in complete terror.

Michael rushed to her side. “Emily. Emily.”

Slowly, her eyes began to flutter and blink. “Michael,” Emily whispered, grabbing him.

William reached down and slipped the ring back onto Emily’s finger. The scorch mark instantly disappeared, healing itself. There was much he did not know about spirit vessels. A topic he would now research in great depth.

He pulled back, allowing Michael to help her off the ground.

The request Catherine had whispered to him… it tore at his insides. He suppressed it, burying it deep down until he had the time to process it appropriately.

Melinda was grateful that Emily had not died, alone and in terror. She wondered if her dreams were changing, growing more powerful, perhaps not just dreaming about death, or if they had changed Emily’s outcome by helping her find out what she was. There was no way to be certain. However, Melinda knew her mother would never have caused permanent harm to someone, even to share such important news about their father.

Michael pulled Emily’s body into his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “You’re okay, Emily. You’re okay.” 

“What happened?” She sounded dazed. 

“Do you not remember?” William asked her, curiously. 

“No. But… I have this odd feeling. A good feeling. Whatever happened, it wasn’t actually bad, was it?”

“No, Emily. It wasn’t a bad thing after all,” William told her.

“I should call my dad!” she cried out. “He’s probably worried sick!”

“I’ll call him,” Melinda offered shakily. “You just take it easy.”

While Melinda borrowed Charlie’s phone to call Mr. Morgan, William explained to Charlie and Michael what had occurred and what they had discovered about Emily. Michael looked as though he had a few choice words about being left out of the loop regarding Melinda’s dream, but held his tongue.

When Melinda returned, it was Charlie and Michael’s turn to explain their journey into the cave. After finishing, Michael took out the bag in his pocket, which held the flecks of rust colored substance he had scraped off the cave wall.

William took hold of it, opening the bag. “No research required. This is blood.”

“Really?” Melinda said incredulously. “I guess you’d know better than anyone.”

“Why would there be specks of blood in the walls of the cave?” Charlie asked.

“Don’t know, but I’m guessing the blood is what attracts the leeches,” said Michael. “I’d also wager that this is the substance that made that man in the cave go crazy on Mom.”

At mention of Mom, everyone went silent and stared at Michael. Emily, still confused just followed everyone’s gaze. After a minute, when he did not respond, she wrinkled her nose and spoke in her quietest voice. “So why are we all staring at Michael? Not that I mind,” she added still sounding dazed. 

Michael looked as though he had no idea what to say.

“For something he’s not ready to share yet,” Charlie answered on his brother’s behalf. 

“Oh, okay,” Emily replied, still confused.

“Emily, why don’t you let me fill you in,” Melinda suddenly spoke with a bit of vigor. “I’ll walk you home, and we can have a chat with your dad. I’m sure there’s lots he wants to tell you now that you know what you are.”

Emily smiled and gladly accepted Melinda’s offer, but before she could get out of the store, Michael grabbed Emily and hugged her fiercely, gently kissing her forehead. “I’m glad you’re all right,” he told her. “We’ll get the bookstore cleaned up and closed up for the night, and I’ll come by your place and check on you later tonight, okay?”