Eximere (The River Book 4) (10 page)

“Just be careful,” Steven said, moving to the front of the
group so he could lead with the flashlight. “Things have obviously changed
since Roger saw them.”

The passageway was about three feet wide and seven feet tall.
It twisted and turned. Steven remembered Roger saying it passed behind other
rooms. He let his flashlight drift up from the floor occasionally to look at
the walls as they passed. He spotted a small device and stopped the group.

“Look,” he said, shining his light on a small, round brass
fixture about five feet off the ground. It was covered with a small metal flap,
which he lifted.

“Peephole,” Roy said. “For looking into the room on the other
side.”

Steven held the flap up and moved his eye to the fixture to
look through. “Whatever is on the other side, there’s not enough light to see
it.”

“Light probably turned off in that room,” Roy said.

“Do you think there are passageways like this upstairs,
behind the bedrooms?” Eliza asked. Steven suddenly wondered if they’d been
spied on as they slept the night before.

“I would bet there are,” Russell said.

“What are these rooms we can’t see?” Steven wondered aloud.
“The doors sealed shut, but a peephole to see in?”

“Let’s keep going,” Roy said, and Steven turned his
flashlight back to the passageway in front of them.

After a minute more of twists and turns, Steven saw the door
at the end of the hallway. “We’ve reached it,” he said back to the group. But
within a few steps he knew something was wrong.

Covering the door was a heavy metal latticework. It was
welded within a frame that was bolted into the wall surrounding the door. It
effectively sealed the door – there was no way through it.

Roy inspected the metal. “This has been welded into place
recently,” he said. “Within a few hours. It’s still warm.”

“The fabrication van we saw leaving,” Steven said. “They just
put this in place? Just now?”

Russell grabbed the metal latticework, giving it a shake. “We
won’t be getting through that without a lot of heavy duty tools.”

“Now what?” Steven asked.

“Well, we know two things at least,” Roy said. “Whatever is
behind that door, Percival didn’t want us to find it. So we’re on the right
path.”

“And the other thing?” Steven asked.

“Someone told him we knew about the door,” Eliza said,
looking around at the others. “Someone is a rat.”

It was four o’clock by the time they left the passageway and
returned to the dining room. It would soon be dusk.

“Well,” Russell said, “I don’t think we’ve got enough time to
make it out. I guess we’re here for the night.”

“I’m a little disturbed about those peepholes,” Eliza said.

“Me too,” said Myrna.

“How do we know someone like Percival isn’t prowling around
outside our bedrooms upstairs?” Eliza asked.

“We don’t, but I think it’s unlikely,” Jonathan said.

“I don’t think it’s unlikely at all,” Russell said. “I think
he’s capable of anything, including that.”

“I suggest we each inspect our rooms carefully,” Steven said.

“It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do,” Eliza said.

“Indeed,” Russell said. “What now, card games for the rest of
the night?”

“I think we ought to try another focus,” Roy said.

The group turned to look at him.

“A focus?” Myrna said. “Are you crazy?”

“I think we need some answers,” Roy said. “There’s something
behind that door in the passageway, and we need to know what it is. A focus
might get us the information without having to go through the door ourselves.”

“And it might accelerate the draining,” Jonathan said. “Bad
idea.”

“We’ve already been tagged,” Roy said. “The damage is done.
Now we need to use our gifts to figure this out, not shy away from them. Not
using them is what Percival wants.”

“What do you think, Eliza?” Steven asked, hoping she’d
support Roy.

“I think it’s our best option,” Eliza said. “With a trance we
might figure it out, but with a focus we’d have a better chance at it.”

“There’s a lot about this house and its previous inhabitants
we don’t know,” Roy said. “We need to learn more if we’re going to locate and
stop the device Percival mentioned. I suggest we meet upstairs and try again. I
think this time we focus on the owner’s son, James. The device and the writings
are his. We need to know more about him.”

“Well, it’s better than sitting here doing nothing,” Myrna
said. “I’m game.”

Jonathan looked reluctant. “OK,” he said, “but I still think
it’s a bad idea.”

“Russell?” Eliza asked. “Will you do it?”

“If everyone else is going to,” Russell said, “sure, I’m in.”

◊

“You all know I’m not as accomplished as you,” Steven said to
the group seated in a circle around him. They were in the upstairs room where
they’d conducted the first focus the day before. “I’m not sure I can enter the
trance, like last time.”

“Actually, I’d prefer you didn’t try,” Roy said. “Turns out
having you in the River observing spared you the tagging, and gave us useful
information about what happened. So don’t sweat it. Just observe in case
something unusual happens again.”

Steven calmed a little and took a deep breath. This time Roy
looked around the room for each person’s ascent before he started the trance
and the focus. Steven entered the flow and saw each of the others as their
trances formed and their focus began.

Eventually a stream of light emerged from each of the others,
and converged in the center of the circle. Steven saw the ball of light form
where the streams met, as before. The ball pulsed and undulated. Steven watched
to see if any dark spots formed as they had the night before, but the ball
stayed constant. Whatever the participants were experiencing, Steven couldn’t
see it. It was all private between them.

With horror, Steven felt his chair begin to lift from the
floor. He grabbed the sides of the chair, and pressed his feet down, trying to
feel the floor. He looked, and the chair was about six inches in the air. It
slowly turned, facing away from the others. None of the others moved; they were
all transfixed with the focus. Steven’s chair moved away from the circle,
towards the other end of the room.

At the far end of the room, he saw the dark woman emerge from
the wall. She floated rapidly towards him. As she approached, she raised her
head for the first time. Steven saw her eyes. They were white, with no pupils.
Her mouth was twisted and her brow was furrowed. She looked angry.

Steven twisted in his chair to look back at the others in the
circle. They were motionless, concentrating on their focus. None of them seemed
to know he’d left the circle.

The dark woman moved within a couple of feet of his face. The
cloth of her dark dress floated in the air, leaving black wisps behind as she
moved. Steven knew immediately that she was not a normal ghost. The sense of
evil that washed over him reminded him of Lukas.

What are they doing?
he heard her think.

They’re focusing,
Steven thought in reply.

On what?
the dark woman thought.
Tell me!

Steven tried to blank his mind. He didn’t want to give her
any information.

Are they all disloyal?
she thought, beginning to circle him.
Are they after my
son?

Steven concentrated on a blank image, trying desperately to
not give away what the others were doing.

They’ll never reach him,
she thought.
I made sure of that. He’s mine now.
He’s loyal now. They’re wasting their time.
She moved in close to Steven,
staring him in the face. Now he could see her more clearly. With horror, Steven
realized half of her face was removed from her skull – it hung like a flap, as
though it had been peeled from her, exposing emptiness underneath.  Steven
recoiled in his chair, pushing back into the cushions to create as much
distance from her as possible.

I didn’t invite you here,
she said to him
. You’re not welcome. Tell me if
they’re after James
,
or I’ll kill them.

Steven could sense both evil and crazy; she was completely
unhinged. He didn’t want to see if she was capable of delivering on her threat.

Yes
,
he thought,
they’re focusing on James.

The dark woman let out a wail as only a ghost in pain can
generate. She drifted back toward the wall, talking to herself.

They’re going to ruin it,
she howled.
How could he hate me? I gave him everything.
He was so powerful, so promising. Disloyal! But I showed him. Turned the
tables. Now it works for me, not him. They’ll be mine soon. But they’re going
to ruin it!

Definitely unhinged, Steven sensed. He remember what Roy had
told him about ghosts, how self-obsessed they are. This one seemed much more
wrapped up than others he’d met. Roy had told him how dangerous ghosts could be
– especially ones that weren’t stable. Her combination of evil and crazy seemed
like a volatile mix.

She turned and moved back towards him. Steven was again
shaken by the flesh hanging from her face.
Make them stop
, she thought.
Make
them stop, or I’ll kill them all.

I can’t,
Steven thought.
They’re all more powerful than me. I couldn’t even
join their focus, I couldn’t induce a trance. I can’t make them do anything.

You are a liar!
she thought.
You’re more powerful than all of them! I can
see that. You’re more powerful than James, too. You can make them stop. You
must. Do it, or I will kill you.

Steven decided he needed to risk arguing with her. He needed
more information, and the group needed more time.

Why do you want them to stop?
he thought.
What’s wrong with
contacting James? We need to know how to find his device.

Disloyalty!
she screeched. Although these were thoughts Steven was
hearing, her intensity was rising – the thoughts came louder and angrier.
How
can you turn on your mother? Your own mother, who had such plans for you? Do
you know how powerful we would have been, together? Your infernal devices. Do
you know I’ve already turned it to my own needs?
She began laughing, the
kind of laugh that comes from someone truly insane.
You’re so misguided. It
doesn’t just make less of them, you fool. It makes me stronger. This is what
your disloyalty has wrought!

Suddenly she stopped floating, and turned her head towards
the doorway to the room, as though she’d heard a noise, or an alarm. She
stopped, cocking her head to listen. Her white eyes widened, and she turned
back to Steven.

Damn your disloyalty
, she thought,
I’ll make sure you stop.
She floated
out of the room beyond Steven’s sight.

He exited the flow and slid off the chair, walking into the
hallway that led to the stairs. He could see her faint form in front of him.
She was heading towards the stairs.

He slipped back into the flow as he walked. He wasn’t sure of
his physical surroundings when he was in the River and wasn’t used to walking
while in it, but he could see he was still in the hallway, and he could see the
dark woman more distinctly than if he wasn’t in the River. He wanted to see her
reaction.

Wait!
he thought to her, hoping to distract her.
I’ll be loyal!

They’re coming,
he heard her think.
Hurry.

He saw her descend the stairs as she had the night before,
turn at the base of the stairs, and proceed down the hallway. She didn’t seem
to hear him.

Wait! Where are you going?
he thought.

Hurry
, she thought.
Hurry.

Steven realized she wasn’t taking to him. She was alone again
with her own thoughts, isolated in a way that only ghosts can be. Within
seconds she had disappeared from view. He exited the flow and walked back to
the room with the others.

“Steven?” Roy said, as he saw Steven come back into the room.
The others were all staring at him, finished with the focus. “Where were you?”

“I was following the dark woman,” Steven said. “She yanked me
out of the circle.”

Steven walked over to his chair, which was about five feet
from the group, facing away from them. It was still floating several inches off
the ground.

“Christ!” Roy said, observing the chair. “You weren’t
kidding.”

Steven pressed down on the chair, and it slowly dropped back
to the carpet. He turned to look at the others, who were all staring at him. “She
talked to me. I got a sense of who she is,” Steven said. “Did you learn about
James?”

“Yes,” Eliza said, “I think we got quite a bit.”

“Good,” Steven said. “Let’s compare notes.”

◊

“Percival was right,” Eliza said. “James made the device. He
was obsessed with gifteds, wanted to change them. Which was funny, since he was
gifted himself.”

“What kind of thinking generates that level of
self-loathing?” Russell said.

“A crazy gifted mother, probably,” Steven said. “She’s wacko,
and on the evil side of the fence.”

“You think she was the reason he became so anti-gifted?”
Eliza asked. “To the extent he’d develop ways to remove people’s gifts? That’s
pretty severe.”

“Yes, I think she was a crazy practitioner on the dark side,”
Steven said, “and James reacted to that.  Didn’t want to become that. She kept
confusing me with James, and she’d go on and on about how disloyal I was. That
was a big deal to her. If he had the gift, he probably hated it because of
her.”

“That’s for sure,” Myrna said. “He hated the gift. Despised it,
every aspect of it. You could feel how much he hated it in the focus. Devoted
his life to eliminating it.”

“Wonder if he ever used the device on himself?” Roy thought.

“No, he needed the gift to keep it running,” Eliza said. “His
justification for using his own ability, but removing it from others.”

“What a freak,” Russell said. “Truly twisted.”

“His mother was a great example of being twisted,” Steven
said. “Maybe James believed it was the gift that made her crazy.”

“What do you think, Jonathan?” Eliza asked.

“I think we need to be very careful,” Jonathan answered. “We
saw that he was successful draining many people while he lived.”

“By the way,” Steven said, “his mother said she’d kill us all
if you do another focus.”

“Really?” Russell said while gulping, his eyes wide.

“But I’m not sure she’d really do it,” Steven said. “She
contradicted herself a lot. She said something about twisting it, making it
work for her instead of for James. She kept saying that you were ‘ruining it.’”

“Ruining it?” Eliza asked. “Ruining what, the draining? She
wants the draining to happen? I thought the whole thing was James’ way of
getting back at her. You’d think she’d be happy we were trying to stop it.”