Eximere (The River Book 4) (18 page)

Steven noticed a tear forming at her eye. “How stupid I am,”
she said, wiping it away.

“Why?” he asked.

“Thinking this place was wonderful and carefree,” she said,
wiping another tear. “All these items stolen from children, their parents
robbed of the opportunity to explain how they work. Graves of murdered innocent
people outside, their histories locked away in that library. It’s horrible.”

“Come on,” Steven said, turning to leave the room. “Let’s
keep checking.”

They explored through the remaining rooms on the ground
floor, which contained a kitchen completely empty of food, several bedrooms,
and a large sitting room at the far end of the house. It had large windows on
all three sides, offering a view of both the front and back yards, and the side
of the house.

“Let’s try upstairs,” Eliza said.

The staircase curved slightly as it rose from the ground
floor to the second story. At the top, a walkway with a handrail encircled the
entryway below. Two hallways departed from either side, mirroring the hallways
on the first floor. “Which way?” Steven asked.

“This side,” Eliza said, choosing the side which was over the
library and sitting room.

They entered a room facing the back yard which had large
white curtains in a window that were fluttering in the breeze. From here, the
banyan tree looked even more impressive, its green canopy spread large. You
could see the graves distinctly.

“The bed,” Eliza said, nodding to a spot further in the room.
Steven left the window and walked over to it; there was a body lying still upon
it.

“James Unser,” Eliza said.

Only the skeleton was left. Its head was on the pillow, and
the lower half of the body was covered by the sheets on the bed, as though
someone had just tucked him in. His left hand was above the covers. In it was a
silver fork.

“Are you sure it’s him?” Steven said. “How do you know?”

“Jump in,” she said.

Steven entered the flow, and he immediately knew she was
right. The fork in his hand changed shape – it was now a cone, about three
inches in diameter.

What’s the cone?
he thought.

Don’t know
, Eliza thought.
But he must have had it with him at his
death.

Steven left the River, and walked around the bed, examining
James. “Do you think Anita visits him like this, at night?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Eliza said.

“Should we try to contact him?” Steven said. “A trance, or a
séance?”

“I think we should,” Eliza said, “but when Roy is available
to help.”

Steven felt a little dejected, as though Eliza didn’t
consider him powerful or experienced enough to do this on his own, without Roy.

“I don’t think you and I can pull it off,” she said. “I’m losing
my ability, and it’ll probably take all three of us just to make it happen.”

Steven resisted the temptation to become petulant. She was
right, it probably would require all three of them to make contact with James.
He didn’t know exactly how much ability they had lost, but he knew that jumping
in and out of the River was increasingly harder and more painful for them.

“Well, let’s get Roy then,” Steven said. “We shouldn’t waste
time.”

“I’ll get him,” Eliza said, turning to leave the room.

Steven walked back over to the window, staring down at the banyan
tree and the graves.
The man in the bed next to me is responsible for all
those deaths,
he thought. He saw the open grave that they had noticed
earlier.
I wonder if it was for him,
Steven thought,
and no one
bothered to bury him.

Eliza came back with Roy, and Roy examined James’ body. “I’d
rather spend eternity in a room like this than buried in the ground,” Roy said.

“I think he planned on being buried,” Steven said. “I think
that’s what the open grave outside was intended for.”

“He did abhor his gift,” Eliza said. “He might have wanted it
sealed over like the others.”

“Just didn’t have very reliable family,” Roy said. “OK, we’re
after info on how to stop Anita and where the device is located. Let’s stay
focused on that. Everyone ready?”

They sat on the floor next to the bed, and Roy began the
séance.
This has got to work
, Steven thought.
We’re running out of
time.

After a few moments, Roy began speaking.

“We wish to speak to James Unser.”

They waited. Nothing.

Roy repeated his call to James Unser.

Still no response.

“He’s hiding,” Eliza said.

“James,” Roy said, “come out and speak with us. We wish to
speak with you.”

“I do not wish to speak with you,” they heard, and turned,
seeing James lying in the bed in the same position as the skeleton, staring up
at the ceiling. “None of you are welcome here. This isn’t your home. I want you
all to leave.”

“We can’t leave,” Roy said. “Not until we locate your device.
We, like you, hate those with abilities that aren’t normal, and we want to use
your device to further your aims in life.”

“You are a liar, sir,” James said, still immobile. “And the
discs will have you all normalized within another day or two.”

“So you know about your progeny, Kent Percival?” Roy said.

“I do, and he’s made me proud to be an Unser. He and his sons
will carry on the work I started.”

“Your mother is making it hard for him to do that,” Roy said.

Where’s he going with this?
Steven wondered.

“She frightens Kent,” Roy said. “He’s scared of her. She
nearly killed him.”

“She what?” James said, now sitting up in bed and looking
down at the three on the floor. “Nearly killed him?”

“She’s evil, isn’t she, James?” Roy said. “She’s evil through
and through. We felt it. Kent felt it. She attacked him. It was a cold, empty
feeling, made him want to die. Maybe you know the feeling? Maybe she attacked
you the same way? Do you remember, when you were alive?”

“Damn her,” James said, sliding a foot to the ground and
standing up. “Always meddling and interfering. I should have killed her when I
had the chance.”

“You know she’s twisted your purpose, don’t you?” Roy said.
“She has found a way to use what your draining device collects to increase her
own power.”

“No!” James said, beginning to pace the room, a worried look
on his face. “It’s not for her!”

“Everything Kent is trying to accomplish,” Roy said, “she
will benefit from. She is using what you built to increase her own abilities.
More evil, building and building, until she becomes so powerful that she
doesn’t need your devices anymore.”

“No, that can’t be true,” James said, the tone in his voice
clearly upset by what Roy was telling him. “It can’t be. The marchers will stop
her. That’s why I put them there. She can’t get past that, regardless.”

Now we’re getting somewhere
, Steven thought.

“Why did you put the marchers outside your house, James?” Roy
said.

“To trap her,” James said. “She had to be stopped, contained.
She’s evil.”

“But they only come out at night,” Roy said. “She could leave
during the day.”

“No, they’re there during the day, too,” James said. “They’re
dormant during the day. But they’re still there, and she knows it. She’s scared
to death of them. She’ll never leave the house.”

“Why does she come down here every night?” Roy asked.

“At night the marchers stare at her through her window,”
James said. “She can’t stand it, their eyes frighten her. And the thumping.”

“She never tried to escape?” Roy asked.

“A couple of times,” James said, “but she never made it. They
caught her once, but she escaped them. She’ll never try again. Have you seen
what they did to her face?”

Steven shuddered. He’d seen.

“She’s more powerful now,” Roy said, “because she’s draining
us. Soon she’ll be able to stop the marchers, and then she’ll be free.”

“She’ll never be able to stop them,” James said. “I made sure
of that.”

“How?” Roy asked.

“I made an agreement,” James said. “An agreement that will
last forever.”

“How did you do that?” Roy asked.

“With someone far more powerful than her,” James said, still
pacing the room. “So I’m not worried.”

“You seem anxious,” Roy said. “You don’t realize that things
have changed. Other arrangements are being made.”

“What arrangements?” James asked excitedly. “What are you
talking about?”

“It’s been a long time since you cut your deal,” Roy said.
“Your mother has cut a few of her own, now.”

“What?” James said. “How do you know this? What
arrangements?”

“She’s finally found a way to overcome you, James. You always
hated her, wanted to make sure others couldn’t become like her, or like you.
But she’s going to win. She’s discovered a secret you forgot, and she’s
manipulating it. Soon, she’ll be free and all of your work will have been for
naught.”

“No!” James said. “I don’t believe you. It can’t be true.”

“That’s why we wanted to talk with you today, James. To warn
you.”

“To warn me? That she is becoming more powerful?”

“Not just that. She’s stolen it, James.”

“Stolen it? What? Stolen what?”

“The device,” Roy said. “Your device. She’s taken it. It now
works for her, and only for her. Everything you’ve worked for, she’s about to
take!”

“No!” James said, and turned and disappeared through the wall
towards the hallway.

Exit the River,
Roy thought to the others, and they all left the trance and
the flow.

“Oh, they’re so stupid!” Roy chuckled. “Quickly, out into the
hallway. I’ll go back into the River to watch him as we follow, and the two of
you must help me maneuver.”

They stopped in the hallway and Roy entered the flow once
again. “There, on the stairway, headed down. Quickly!”

Steven took Roy by one elbow and Eliza took the other. They
walked quickly back to the head of the stairs and followed James down it.

“He’s going into the library,” Roy said. “Hurry, we don’t
want to lose him.”

Steven and Eliza picked up the pace, hurrying down the stairs
as quickly as they could with Roy in tow. Roy was straining his neck to see
further ahead. They left the stairwell and the entryway, and ran quickly to the
library.

“There!” Roy said, pointing to the back of the room. Steven
and Eliza couldn’t see anything. Roy exited the River and walked over to a
bookcase on the far wall of the room.

“He went in here,” Roy said.

“Through the bookcase?” Steven said.

“What’s on the other side of this wall?” Roy said.

“There’s a large sitting room,” Eliza said.

“There’s got to be a passageway then,” Roy said. “Help me
find it!”

Steven and Eliza began inspecting the bookcase, looking for
anything unusual.

“Do you think you have to be in the River to open it?” Steven
asked.

“Probably not,” Roy said. “Look for a lever or something. He
hated his gift, he liked to make mechanical things that didn’t require its use.”

“Didn’t stop him from making this house, in this cave – or
whatever it is,” Steven said.

“Good point,” Roy said. “Maybe I’m wrong. Eliza?”

Eliza slipped into the River and continued her inspection.
After a few moments, the bookcase in front of her slid back, and then to the
left.

“A lever on the top,” Eliza said. “Steven was right, it was
concealed in the flow.”

“I stand corrected,” said Roy.

They looked into the space the bookcase had revealed.

“Of course,” Steven said. “Another stairwell, leading down.
The device is under this house.”

“Amusing!” Kent Percival said, kicking back in his chair and
placing his feet on the table.

Steven, Roy, and Eliza had returned to the surface after ensuring
everything was in its place. They decided to not go down the staircase they
found in the library of Eximere until they had a plan for dealing with Anita,
agreeing that getting closer to the device without a plan meant they’d lose
their gifts even faster. Thomas warned them Anita would know if they touched
the device, so she had to be neutralized first, somehow. When they arrived
upstairs, they found Percival talking with the others in the dining room.

“There’s only so much you can get in this town,” Russell
said. “We’ve been using the only pair of wire cutters we could find, but they’re
barely making a dent.”

“Don’t bother talking to him,” Myrna said. “He doesn’t need
to know what we’ve tried.”

“What does it matter?” Russell said. “He put the mesh over
the door, he knows what’s going on. We all know what’s going on here.”

“Amusing!” Percival said, smiling and laughing. “Yes, that
was a bit of a rush job, thanks to Jonathan.”

The group turned to look at Jonathan.

“So it
was
you,” Eliza said.

“I…I…,” Jonathan stuttered, looking down.

“Out with it, Jonathan,” Percival said. “Tell them how you
brought them all to their dooms!”

Jonathan stood silent, the toothpick in his mouth bobbing up
and down.

“Come on,” Percival said, “out with it.”

“He’s just saying that,” Jonathan said, “to turn us against
each other.”

“I figure you’ve all got one more day,” Percival said, “then
your gooses will be cooked. No reason not to be honest with them now,
Jonathan.”

Jonathan stared back at Percival, anger boiling behind his
eyes, shredding the toothpick between his teeth.

“You said they wouldn’t be harmed,” Jonathan said.

“And they won’t,” Percival said.

“You said
I
wouldn’t be harmed,” Jonathan said.

“You didn’t have much gift to lose, though, did you?” Percival
said. “And you still have yours. Surely the risk was worth what you earned.”

It took a moment for Percival’s statement to sink in, but
when it did, Roy came unglued. He ran at Jonathan, grabbing him by his collar,
and pushing him back into the wall. The toothpick in Jonathan’s mouth fell to
the floor.

“How much?” Roy yelled at him. “How much to sell us all down
the river?”

Jonathan remained silent. Roy could see the fear on his face.

“Ten thousand,” Percival said. “Plus the promise that he
wouldn’t be affected.”

“So you weren’t tagged?” Myrna said.

“No,” Percival said. “He drank something before your focus –
one of your evil concoctions.”

“So you faked being sick back in town?” Eliza asked.

Jonathan glanced up at Eliza, but quickly dropped his eyes
back to the ground, not saying anything.

“He doesn’t have to answer,” Roy said. “It’s written all over
him.”

“Go to hell!” Jonathan said, and spat in Roy’s face.

Roy shoved him further up the wall, but Steven grabbed Roy’s
shoulder to stop him.

“You’re always talking about loose ends,” Roy said to Steven,
“how about we end this one right now?” He shoved Jonathan even further up the
wall. Jonathan grabbed Roy’s hands to try and loosen his grip, but Roy held
firm.

“You betrayed us all,” Myrna said. “You’re a traitor to your
own kind.”

“The main thing is that we continue the work,” Percival said.
“After you’re all processed, Jonathan here will help me round up some more.”

“We will talk,” Myrna said. “Others will know what you’re
doing!”

“No, you won’t,” Percival said. “You won’t care.”

“You’re wrong about that,” Roy said, lowering Jonathan from the
wall.

“No, I’m not, not according to the writings of James,” Percival
said. “The final step of the process – the last thing the device does as it
pulls the final bits of your abilities away – is to make you forget. You’ll
leave here wondering why you came. Beautiful, really. Merciful.”

“Abhorrent,” Russell said.

“What if we just kill you both, right now?” Steven asked. “It’s
five versus two, I think we can take you.”

“You won’t, I know your creed,” Percival said. “James wrote
about it extensively. You don’t kill unless you have to. Killing to save your
ability would be the ultimate hypocrisy.”

Creed?
Steven thought.
I’ll have to ask Roy about that later.

“Well, I have to be going,” Percival said. “I refreshed a few
of the items in the fridge, but you won’t be needing much more. I’m guessing by
the day after tomorrow, you’ll all be in the mood to leave.” He smiled broadly,
took his feet off the table, and stood up. “You keep trying with those wire
cutters,” he said to Russell, laughing. “Maybe you’ll get through by next
week!” He walked into the kitchen, and was gone.

Eliza turned to Jonathan. “I can’t believe you lied to me. Why?
Money?”

Jonathan wrinkled his nose at her. “You’re all so self-righteous
about everything,” he said, almost spitting as he talked.

“So you admit it?” Myrna said. “What Percival said was true.”

“Yes, sure, I admit it,” Jonathan said. “If he’s right, you
won’t remember anything anyway.”

“Ten thousand dollars,” Eliza said, turning away from him.

“You don’t have much in the way of ability, do you?” Roy
asked Jonathan, studying his face. Under the anger and bluster, he could see
embarrassment. “That’s what I thought. You’re jealous.”

“And you’re just a sanctimonious prick who thinks he’s
special,” Jonathan said. “All my life I’ve put up with your types. I’m sick of
you all.”

“Your types?” Myrna said. “You mean our types, don’t you?
You’re one of us.”

“No,” Jonathan said. “Roy is right. I’m not as powerful as
any of you. Not by a long shot. Never have been. Listening to you talk and go
on about this ability or that, I’m fucking sick of it. It wasn’t the money. It
was the chance to bring you all back down to size. Regardless of how much power
I have, when this is over, it’ll be more than any of you.”

“You’re a horrible person,” Myrna said. “I can’t believe I
trusted you! I regret having ever met you.”

“So do I,” Eliza said, her back still turned to him. “And I
can’t believe I involved my friends for you. I feel ashamed.”

“Fuck you,” Jonathan said, “and fuck your friends, too.
You’ll all be living normal lives soon, so get used to it.” He turned and left
the room, going down the velvet paper hallway.

“Well, fuck you!” Roy yelled after him. “You son of a bitch!”

“What an asshole!” Russell said.

“Judas,” Eliza said, her head bowed. Steven thought she might
be crying.

“We were all tricked into this,” Steven said to her. “It’s
not your fault, Eliza.”

“You both had concerns,” she said, “and I brushed them off. I
trusted him over you. Never again.”

“Russell, you said you were using wire cutters?” Roy asked.

Russell raised his right hand, showing Roy a pair of wire
cutters that were about six inches long. “Got them in town,” he said. “The best
I could find.”

“How do they work on the door covering?” Roy asked.

“I’ve spent hours on it,” Russell said. “I’ve snipped through
three wires, and bent the cutters in the process.”

“It’ll never do it,” Roy said. “They’re not big enough.”

“We seem to have run out of options,” Myrna said, exasperated.
“What else can we do?”

“I don’t know,” Roy said, still unwilling to share their
discoveries with the group. “I guess we wait.”

“I intend to spend my last few hours with the gift my own
way,” Russell said. “I’ve got a few trances I’ve always wanted to try, and I’m
going to give them a shot, provided I’ve got enough juice to pull them off.”

“Same for me,” Myrna said. “I’d like to be alone during
whatever hours are left.”

“All right,” Roy said. “We’ll interrupt you only if we have
news.”

Russell and Myrna left and walked down the hallway, returning
to their rooms. Eliza, Roy, and Steven were left in the dining room.

“I’m so sorry,” Eliza said, turning to look at Roy and
Steven. “I…”

Steven walked to her and hugged her. She hugged him back, a
sob or two leaving her body.

“It doesn’t matter,” Roy said. “We haven’t given up like
Russell and Myrna. We have options. There’s things we need to do.”

“Should we tell them?” Eliza said. “Russell and Myrna?”

“No,” Roy said. “It’s worked for us so far to keep this
between the three of us. Let’s not change that. If we’re successful, they’ll
both be OK – then we can tell them.”

“What about Jonathan?” Steven asked.

“I don’t think we want Jonathan or Percival to know how far
we’ve gone,” Roy said. “So we need to be careful. But I don’t think either of
them has any clue what’s really under this house.”

“I can’t believe he lied to me like that,” Eliza said. “And
that he’d participate in this horrible thing.”

“Not just participate,” Steven said. “He’s getting paid, and
he intends to keep doing it to others.”

“I really misjudged him,” Eliza said. “I feel so foolish.”

“If we can find a way to destroy the device,” Roy said, “we
can stop both him and Percival.”

“What do we do next?” Steven asked. “We can’t go back down
there, it’s nearly dusk. We’re running out of time.”

“I could use some food,” Roy said. “I’m starving.”

“Really?” Steven asked. “Food? Now?”

Eliza seemed to snap out of her funk. She took a deep breath,
and shook her head, as though she was shaking off the guilt that bothered her
about Jonathan. She turned to Roy. “Roy, you go get your book from upstairs. I
think we should go through it again, now that we know about the missing section
from Thomas senior. I’ll go rustle up some food in the kitchen. Let’s meet back
here in ten minutes and get to work.”

They all looked at each other, and smiled. Eliza took it as
forgiveness from Roy and Steven, and Steven was glad the old Eliza was back.
Then they all went their separate directions.

◊

Roy reached for another piece of cheese. Steven had cut
several smaller pieces off a large chunk of cheddar to make it easier for Roy
to grab and eat while scanning the book.

Like cutting up food for a baby,
Steven thought.
As they get
older, they revert.

“Now, now,” Eliza said, staring into the book next to Roy.
Steven wasn’t sure if she was referring to his thought about Roy or to
something she was reading.
Or something Roy might have thought
, he
wondered. He decided he was going to find out if Eliza really could read minds
or if it was a coincidence.

If you can tell what I’m thinking,
he thought,
look up and smile at
me.

He saw her smile, but she did not look up.
Just like her
,
he thought,
to leave me wondering.

“Isn’t it intriguing how mysterious it is?” Eliza said.

“I know what you mean,” Roy said. “I wish we had Thomas
senior’s book to check on a few of the things junior is writing about here. It
does seem mysterious. He just assumes you’ll know what he’s referring to.”

“Junior must have had his father’s book at the time he wrote
this,” Steven said. “That means junior was into his own by the time his father
was killed by James.”

“I wonder if he knew what happened to his father,” Roy said.
“I’ve never encountered anything in junior’s writing that would indicate his
father went missing.”

Roy returned to studying the book, scanning carefully.

“Do you see that?” Roy said, pointing to a drawing.

“It looks like a cone,” Eliza said, moving her face a little
closer to the book to examine the drawing.

“Technically it’s a funnel,” Roy said. “It’s a soul funnel.
I’ve seen it before, somewhere recently.”

“A soul funnel?” Steven asked.

Eliza scanned the book. “Looks like it’s used to conduct a
transaction.”

“Conduct a transaction?” Steven said. “Involving souls?”

“Eliza, you’re familiar with managing perimeters,” Roy said,
ignoring Steven’s question. “You use them to manage the area you’ve protected
in California, right? How do you do it?”

“The same way everyone does,” Eliza said, “on a legend
shelf.”

“What’s a legend shelf?” Steven asked with a little
irritation in his voice, “and what does it have to do with a soul funnel?” He
hated being left in the dark.