Eximere (The River Book 4) (25 page)

“Christ, where is all this coming from?” Roy asked. “I feel
like I’m in Philosophy 101. Or worse, seminary.”

“Something I felt in June’s house,” Steven said. “Something
that reminded me of Lukas.”

“Reminded you how?” Roy asked.

Steven pulled his car into his driveway. “You want some more
coffee? I wouldn’t mind a fresh pot.”

“Sounds good,” Roy said, getting out of the car and walking
with Steven into the basement door of his home. “Reminded you how?”

“Well,” Steven said, “I remember when we were dealing with
Lukas. The child disappearances, his pact with Michael, all of that. It was all
horrific, all on its own. But when we’d encounter him in my house, in the
hallway, I remember thinking that he was pure evil. A ridiculous thought, in a
way, since I’m a rationalist and not a churchgoer. But I never had a better way
to describe the feeling. It was almost subconscious, or something that
triggered my animal brain, something I couldn’t really control. Jesus, the hair
stands up on the back of my neck just thinking about it now.”

Roy followed him upstairs and Steven began to prepare a new
pot of coffee. “So when we walked into June’s house,” Steven said, “I felt
something was wrong, right off the bat. And then, when we walked into the
kitchen – hair went up on the back of my neck, that same animal brain
reaction.”

“I didn’t have that reaction,” Roy said. “Maybe it’s just
something I’m not tuned into.”

“Kind of like the way an animal stops and knows it shouldn’t
go into a particular area,” Steven said, “because something tells it there’s a
predator watching. They can’t see it, but they sense something is wrong. Some
other sense or combination of things tells them.”

“You felt all that in June’s kitchen?” Roy asked.

“I did,” Steven said. “First it gave me the willies and I
thought maybe it was just a momentary thing, like when a goose walks over your
grave. But it didn’t stop. The longer we stayed in that room, the more I felt
we were being watched.”

“Well, there’s no reason to not take her at her word,” Roy
said. “The place could certainly be haunted.”

Steven watched as the coffee brewed. “Yes, of course,” he
said. “But this wasn’t that. This was deeper somehow.”

“What do you mean?” Roy asked.

“I’d categorize the various things we’ve run into three
ways,” Steven said. “First are the humans who know about the River and operate
within it, on both the good and bad sides of the fence. Eliza is obviously with
us, on the good side. Jurgen was on the bad.”

“OK,” Roy said.

“Second are the ghosts,” Steven continued. “Ben, that woman
in the room next to mine in Mason Manor, the ghosts in the basement, Robert
Maysill. Scary, but most of the time innocuous, if you know what you’re doing.”

“You’ve not met enough of them,” Roy said. “Anita was not
innocuous. She was a very dangerous ghost.”

“Agreed,” Steven said.

“I’ve met several ghosts that were just as dangerous,” Roy
said, wanting to make his point.

“No, you’re right,” Steven said. “I agree with you. I
shouldn’t have called them innocuous. But they all have certain similarities.
As you’ve said, they’re self-obsessed, and because of it they’re a little
stupid. They can be manipulated. You manipulated James Unser magnificently.”

“Thank you,” Roy said.

“But there’s this third group,” Steven said. “I would count
Lukas in it. Not human, right? Not a ghost. Something else. And it seemed to
me, something worse. Not stupid like a ghost – the opposite of it. He was
smart, completely focused on something he wanted. And…evil. I have a hard time
finding another word for it.”

“I guess evil is as good a word as any,” Roy said, “since
what they seem to be after is the opposite of what I consider good and right.”

“Or maybe it’s just a natural order of things,” Steven said.
“Does an antelope consider a lion to be evil?”

“Of course not,” Roy said. “You’re taking this too far. An
antelope considers a lion to be
dangerous
.”

“But not because it was taught that,” Steven said. “It just
knows. Instinct. That’s what this is. It felt more powerful than any other
instinct I’ve ever had.”

“So what are you saying?” Roy said. “You think there’s
something dangerous in her house?”

“Yes, I do,” Steven said. “It may well be haunted. So was my
home, here, before you helped me get rid of Lukas. I wouldn’t be surprised to
find ghosts there. But there’s something that’s worse than Mason Manor, or the
Unser House, in her home. I felt it.”

“I wish you had more to go on,” Roy said. “Since I didn’t
feel it, I can’t really relate.”

“I think we should help her,” Steven said. “Even if it means
a pause in our book deliveries. I think she’s worse off than she knows. I think
her daughter and grandson are in danger, too.”

Roy looked at Steven, slightly skeptical. “You seem very sure
of yourself,” Roy said. “I have no problem stopping to help her. But the thing
I wonder is, are
you
ready? You’re far more impressionable by this
‘evil’ than I am, apparently. Are you sure you want to jump in, wherever it
might lead?”

“I think so,” Steven said, seeing the last drips from the
coffee pot and removing it to pour himself and his father a mug. “I think we
have to. I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to do when I learn that someone’s
life is at risk.”

“It’s as bad as that?” Roy asked.

“Yes, I think it is,” Steven said, sipping his coffee. “And I
can’t shake it. The more I think about it, the more convinced I become. If we
don’t help them, one or all of them could die.”

“Alright
then,” Roy said, “we’ll do it. Let’s call her back.”

◊

This has been a complimentary first
chapter of the next book in
The River
series,

The Suicide Forest

Enjoy the rest of the novel by
downloading your complete copy from Amazon.com
!