Sapphire: A Paranormal Romance (33 page)

"What is it
with this place?" Jimmy asked.  "Is the land just bad or something? 
Was it cursed?"

Tabitha shrugged. 
"I’ve gone back as far as I can using the archives at the newspaper, but I
never found any stories of Native American curses or anything.  There have been
plenty of haunted house and ghost stories, but nothing that’s really out of the
ordinary."

"I've heard
lots of stories about that house on Route 338," Jimmy said.  "That
big one that always looks like it's run down no matter who lives there and how
much paint they put on the place."

Tabitha smiled. 
"Yes, but just about any large, old house has a haunted story or two
attached to it.  That house has been owned by a lot of people over the years
and some odd things have happened, but nothing that would amaze anyone.  Well,
at least not that I can see."

Tabitha bit her
lower lip for a moment.

"Honestly,
the Boogeyman case and the story of the girl in the blue dress beside the road
are the most famous stories to come out of this area," Tabitha said. 
"And now I’ve been involved in both of those.  I think I need to retire
from the world of the supernatural after this one."

Jimmy said,
"I think I might, as well, but I also wonder if maybe this connection
between myself and Sapphire has awakened something inside of me."

Tabitha frowned. 
"Like seeing dead people?"

"Among other
things."

Tabitha raised her
eyebrows.  "Care to elaborate?"

Jimmy sighed.  He
thought hard, and the buzzing started in his head.  He reached out his hand,
pointing his fingers at Tabitha's laptop.  After what seemed like an eternity,
the laptop moved. At first it was slow, and then it got a bit faster, and then
it slid across the table until it touched Jimmy's hand.

Tabitha's mouth
hung open.

"It only
works when I’m in contact with Sapphire," Jimmy said.  "But I have
this weird feeling that if I were to keep trying things, I would be able to
alter reality around me.  So the next time Devlin Little comes knocking, I
think I'll have a surprise for him."

Tabitha was about
to say something, but the front door opened and Warren and Jimmy's mother
walked in.  She immediately put a thousand-watt smile on her face.  

Once she entered,
all talk about supernatural things ended.  It was time to fill Warren and his
mother in on the discussions with Mrs. Walters and Jesse, and then there was
more preparation for George's visit.  Before long, Jimmy was setting the places
at the table and chatting with his mother.  Needless to say, he did not discuss
his visit with Sapphire.  The memory of her scent and the feel of her skin
against his ran through his mind.  He was having a hard time concentrating, and
wondered if grown-ups always thought about sex, like he apparently did.

The sun began its
descent.  As it did, the buzzing in Jimmy's head got louder.  Sapphire was
listening in.  When he had a moment to himself, he wandered off into a
bathroom. He found that by thinking about it, he could move and transform the
soap in the dish on the sink.  Doing so, however, also left him feeling very
tired and drained.

Can you feel
me?
he asked Sapphire.

Yes
, she replied. 
I can feel the power between us.  It's amazing.

George will be
here soon
, Jimmy said. 
We'll be having dinner
and talking about anything he's discovered.  So listen in
—
maybe some
memories will be triggered.

Sapphire
acknowledged that she would.  Jimmy thought about asking more questions about
where she was and what it looked like.  But he had tried that before, and, for
some reason, Sapphire had been unable to describe where she was.  Jimmy guessed
that, in truth, she was probably random energy that retained the memory of
Sapphire.  And, as such, she was part of the overall energy that infiltrated
everything and everyone.  It was a bit too deep for Jimmy right now.  He was
hungry, and the smell of chili was in his nose.

George finally
arrived and Jimmy stepped out of the bathroom.  He took the books and homework
assignments from George and gave him a hug.  George seemed surprised, but he
returned the hug.

"It smells
great in here," he said.  "This guy hasn't been giving you too much
trouble, has he?"

"Well, maybe
a little," Warren said.

"None,"
Tabitha replied, and then gave Warren a look.

That was about as
much small talk as they were able to get into.  Soon after, they were sitting
down at the table and Tabitha was serving the chili.  Once that was done, they
all began eating.  Everything else went away from their thoughts and just the
delicious chili occupied their minds.

Once the meal had
been consumed and Warren went off to the kitchen to serve up some dessert,
suddenly Tabitha got very serious. 

"OK,
George," she said, crossing her arms and leaning on the table.  "What
have you learned?"

George sputtered a
bit on the water he had been drinking.  "Are you asking what I learned in
school today, or are you talking about something else?"

"Come on,
George," Jimmy said.  "Don't be difficult.  You know what we
mean."

George took
another drink and then shrugged.  "I haven't talked to anyone but
students.  I found a few who insist that they've seen Sapphire before.  That
includes the sociology teacher, Mr. Wiedman."

"Really?"
Tabitha asked.

George nodded
enthusiastically.  "Back when he was a high school senior.  He says that
he and his friends were headed to the homecoming dance when they saw a girl in
a blue dress beside the road.  This tale differs from the one you and I have,
Jimmy, in that Sapphire got into the car, said she needed to get to the school
for a dance, but then vanished after the car had only travelled a few blocks. 
Mr. Wiedman says she looked odd, lost, and confused, and the others in the car
said the air inside got very cold when she got in."

Jimmy admitted to
himself that this made sense to him now that he and Sapphire had come to
realize that it was their connection that made her as real as she was when she
appeared to him.  He remembered how cold she had felt when they first met.

"Another
student, a senior, said that he saw her about two years ago," George
said.  "This was around prom, I guess.  He was driving over to his
girlfriend's house when he saw a dark-haired girl in a blue dress in that same
spot.  By the time he stopped the car and pulled over, she was gone without a
trace.  He said he could smell perfume in the air, though, right where she had
been standing.

"I did talk
to a kid who says that his grandmother once told him the story of a young girl
who had left a dance and was then raped and murdered at that spot on the road. 
But there was no evidence.  There were no newspaper clippings or
anything."

"Any word on
the football team or Devlin Little?" Tabitha asked.

George shook his
head.  "Not really.  Other than the fact that he and his son are pretty
much universally hated by anyone not on the football team.  However, everyone
is afraid of him.  They all owe him money or he owns property that they live or
work on.  He must own a huge swath of land in this area."

Tabitha confirmed
that this was true.  Just then, Warren arrived with dishes of chocolate ice
cream.  All of them accepted greedily and then ate quietly.

"So,"
Warren asked, "what are you thinking, wife of mine?"

Tabitha twirled
her spoon around in the melting ice cream and shrugged.  "Just wondering
where we go from here, and when Devlin Little is going to make his next
move."

It was then that
all of the proximity lights burst on around the house, turning the outside into
daylight, and sending beams as bright as the sun in through the windows.  An
alarm sounded.  Seconds later, the living room window exploded and the sound of
gunshots filled the air.

At first Jimmy
froze, having no idea what had just happened.  The lights pierced his eyes and
an alarm over by the front door began blaring.  Seconds later, the living room
window exploded inward.  Then there came the sound of booming shotguns,
followed by the sharp, stinging reports from a smaller caliber gun. 

Jimmy's mother
screamed and dove for cover.  Tabitha screamed.  Warren ducked under the
table.  George immediately hit the floor, sending his chair skittering across
the hardwood floor behind him.  After a moment, Tabitha flung herself to the
floor.  Only Jimmy remained at the table, looking around at the bits of glass,
hearing the sound of bullets hitting the walls and whining off of the house, in
a kind of stupor.  The buzzing in his head reached a deafening pitch.

Get down, Jimmy!
Sapphire screamed into his brain.

That broke his
paralysis, and Jimmy finally hit the ground.  More bullets hit the walls. 
Something in the kitchen exploded into fragments.  Something hit the tabletop
above him and the entire piece of furniture moved, splinters raining down on
all of them.

Warren got to his
feet and ran for the den.  As he did, a trail of bullets stitched the walls of
the house.  Another window shattered.  There was an explosion of a shotgun from
behind the house.  Through the shattered windows, they could hear people
shouting.  It sounded like there were people all around the house.

Warren reached the
den and vanished from sight.  From inside the den came the sound of a drawer
opening and closing.  More shots rang out and something in the den shattered. 
Tabitha screamed Warren's name.  The writer emerged carrying two pistols.

He ran to the
broken back window, aimed both pistols, and fired.  Someone outside screamed,
and then there was more shouting.  Warren ran back into the dining room and
dove behind the sofa as more gunshots erupted from outside. 

Jimmy squatted
beneath the table and put his hands over his head.  He looked at his mother,
and there was a look of sheer terror on her face.  George was lying flat on the
floor beside the table, not moving.  Jimmy couldn’t tell if he had been hit. He
saw no blood, but he was too far away to tell.  Beside Jimmy, Tabitha had her
head down and was screaming into the floor.

We can stop
this
, Sapphire said into Jimmy's brain.

Just like that, it
was as if a switch had been thrown in Jimmy's head.  He nodded.  The air
suddenly crackled with electricity, just like it had upstairs earlier.  The
room became suddenly brighter at the same time the lights outside dimmed.  The
hair on Jimmy's neck and arms stood straight up.  He felt power ripple through
him.  It was similar to when he had fought Stan the other day, as if his body
were suddenly two people, two minds, working together.

Jimmy stood up.

"Jimmy!"
Tabitha screamed.  "Get down!"

"Jimmy!"
came the scream from his mother.

Jimmy looked first
at Tabitha, a smile of serenity crossing his face.  Tabitha's eyes went wide at
the sight of it.  Then Jimmy turned and faced his mother.

"Don't
worry," Jimmy said, but his voice was now a mixture of his and
Sapphire's.  "It will be OK."

More gunfire
erupted from outside and more windows shattered.  Jimmy extended his hand and
the bullets and glass suddenly froze in mid-air.  Jimmy's eyes blazed white;
electricity danced across his eyes and from his eye sockets.  The entire world
suddenly looked like a mass of strings, strings of energy that tied everything
and everyone together.  It was just a matter of tugging on the right string.

Jimmy began to
float.  His feet were, at first, a few inches off the ground, and then he was
higher than the back of the sofa.  He began to move towards the back of the
house, his shoes barely clearing the back of the sofa.  Beneath him, Warren
looked up with his mouth agape.

Outside, Jimmy
could hear more screaming.  Someone was in pain. Someone else was barking harsh
orders at a volume that made it impossible for Jimmy to hear what was being
said. 

"He's coming
out!"  

"Jesus!"
said another voice.  "Is he floating?"

Jimmy moved slowly
toward the doors that led out onto the back deck.  The glass in the doors had
been shattered and there was nothing but empty air where the glass had been
before.  As he moved through, he waved his hand, and behind him the glass rose
into the air like a film rewinding, and re-formed in the window frames.  Jimmy
turned his blazing eyes to the men standing in the back yard.

Jimmy saw that the
man screaming on the ground was Stan Little.  Behind him was a much larger and
older man that Jimmy did not recognize, but he figured that he was someone
affiliated with Devlin Little.  Beside him was another man with a brown beard
and dressed in hunter's camouflage.  Stan had a handgun near his hand, but he
was clutching at his ankle, blood pouring from between his fingers.  The other
two men held pump shotguns.

"Jesus
Christ," said the man standing behind Stan.  "This ain't happening. 
This cannot be happening."