The Marked Son (Keepers of Life) (12 page)

“I’ve been here two days. I don’t know anyone who’d do this, do you?”

“No one smart enough to get it together this quick.”

My muscles bunch and roll, and I try to relax, but I can’t. “We both saw her. I’ve seen her more than once. If anyone’s being punked, it’s me.” I look at the forest and so does he. Maybe he doesn’t believe, but I do. “This is real.
She’s
real. I can feel it.”

As I stare at the forest, the wind blows a soft whisper, challenging me to find her. Before I can change my mind, I say, “I’m going in tonight. You wanna come along?”

He stares into the woods, his face reflecting the absurdity of the invitation. “Ghost hunting, huh? That’s dedicated insanity, even for me. We might be talking possessions and poltergeists and demons. Don’t you read Stephen King? Bad things happen to people who go after that stuff. It’s stupid.”

“Yeah, I know.” But ignoring what’s going on could be far worse. “So, you in?”

“Dude.” His voice fills with excitement. “I’m
so
there.”

§

Jason blows off his talk with Grandpa, and before heading home, promises to meet me later tonight. I go inside, head for the refrigerator, and pour myself a glass of milk. When I close the door, Grandma’s standing there, holding onto a basket of wet laundry, mostly mine. Her unexpected appearance makes me jump, and I spill a little milk over the top of my hand. “Geez, Grandma!” I lick the milk running down my thumb.

She looks past me and into the back yard. “Where’s Jason?”

“He went home.”

I hear Grandpa talking to a man in the living room, and a sudden string of cuss words courses down the hall and into the kitchen. All of them have to do with Jason.

Grandma winces and shakes her head. “Why does that boy love trouble? Mr. Tanner is furious, and for good reason.” She hefts the laundry basket higher on her hip and rolls her eyes when the man’s voice cracks under his anger. “I’d stay out of sight until the fuss is over. I’ll be doing laundry out back if you need me.”

After the back screen door bangs shut, I head for the front room, drawn to a commotion that, for once, doesn’t involve me. I can hear the strain in Grandpa’s voice as he tries to calm the man down.

“I agree. I’d be mad, too, Ed.”

Leaning my shoulder against the doorjamb, I watch the drama unfold, and leisurely sip my milk.

“Ruined three ewes before I stopped his shenanigans,” the man standing in front of Grandpa yells. His face is red all the way to his receding hairline, but it’s his eyes that have me staring. They bulge under a vein that splits his forehead in two. “He’s not just my problem, he’s behind your trouble, too. I’m lucky he didn’t kill any of mine.”

“Now, we can’t jump to conclusions—”

“We can. That boy’s a nuisance. How many complaints do you have on him already?”

“ There’s a wild streak in Jason, no doubt about it, but what teenage boy doesn’t have one?”

“I’m telling you, he’s one step away from real trouble. You know what they say about people who abuse animals. Damn psychopaths. Kill us all in our sleep.” He thrusts his hands in his pockets. “Trespassing and destruction of property. I want that in my complaint.”

“I’ve got that down, but I’d rather you take this up with the boy’s dad.”

“Carl’s an idiot.”

Grandpa sighs and leads the man toward the front door, where they stop. “Ed, you know I’m not a man to make excuses, but that boy’s wild because Carl’s hard on him.”

Ed purses his lips. “I hear you, but a man’s got to be held accountable for what he does.”

“Agreed. Tell you what—I’ll talk to Carl. We’ll ask for reimbursement regarding any damages and have Jason come over and do some chores for you—mucking and combing wool, or doing odd jobs. You can have him one week for each sheep he clipped. How’s that?”

“Free?”

“You bet. Since it’s doubtful we can drive the demon out, we can at least work it into exhaustion. Show him what his life will be like if he continues to cause trouble.”

“You’re sure he’s harmless?”

Grandpa laughs and pounds Ed on the back, but there’s a false sound to his laughter. Ed doesn’t look convinced. “Hell, Ed. No one, given the right circumstances, is harmless. Including you.”

Ed grunts. “All right, then. I’ll be expecting him sometime this week.”

“You’re a good man.”

The screen door squeaks open and then bangs shut. The house descends into quiet.

I make my way back to the kitchen, draining the milk from my glass as I go. So, Jason is a delinquent. I figured that out by reading his website. Am I wrong to trust him?

Grandma comes in with a load of dry laundry, mostly sheets and towels. “Is something the matter?”

“No.” At least I hope not.

She takes a few steps, and I stop her. “Grandpa won’t mind if I hang out with Jason tonight, will he?”

She arches an eyebrow, and her voice drips with sarcasm. “You mean the Jason that was over here this afternoon? The one Mr. Tanner is spitting mad over? That Jason?”

When she puts it like that, the idea doesn’t sound so smart, but I don’t think she understands. I’m not actually asking permission. I’m giving her more of a heads up, something I never bothered doing with Mom.

She heaves a heavy sigh. “I’d hoped he’d settled down a little, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. He needs a firm hand before he gets himself into some real trouble.”

“He’s not so bad. Really.”

I think she’s about to tell me I’ve got no business hanging out with Jason, but instead she gives me a nod. “Maybe all Jason needs is a steadying influence—an older boy to look up to. You could do a good deed with him, Dylan.”

My jaw hangs open. She thinks I’m a positive role model? If I weren’t so shocked, I’d laugh. No one’s ever handed me that job before. And if she knew what we were about to do, she’d know I’m not someone to trust.

“Be back by a reasonable hour,” she says, as she walks away.

I smile. “I will.”

Luckily for me, I’ve yet to find an unreasonable hour.

Into the Woods

Jason’s late.

I hitch my backpack higher and pace back and forth along the dirt path.

The air sparkles with change as the sun begins to sink toward the horizon. It’ll be another hour before it sets and a bit longer than that before true darkness settles in. I look at the woods and then down the dirt road. I thought Jason was really into the idea. Guess not.

I shift the flashlight into my other hand. Click it on, then off. It works. I glance around and sigh. On my own again. Nothing new there.

“You look nervous. What’s going on?”

I spin around and run head-on into Leo. “Hey,” I say, nearly dropping the flashlight. “Give a guy some warning.”

He smiles. While I store the flashlight in the backpack, he thrusts his hands into the pockets of his khaki shorts. “Don’t be jealous of the skills. What’re you doing?”

I mimic his stance, pushing my hands deep into the pockets of my well-worn, baggy jeans. “Nothing.” It isn’t a lie. I’m standing alone in the middle of a dirt strip. That is the definition of nothing if ever I heard one. “What’re
you
doing?”

“Nothing.” Leo shakes his head in that laid back, too-sleepy-to-care attitude he has. “That’s kinda pathetic. It’s a Friday night, and neither of us has a chick. ’Course, you don’t know any, so I guess that makes me the bigger loser.”

He focuses somewhere behind me. “Jason,” he calls.

I turn and see Jason barreling down the dirt path like a bull running the narrow streets of Pamplona. He comes to a stop beside us, not even panting hard, and looks from me to Leo, a question in his eyes.

“Haven’t seen you in a while. What’re you doing, bro?” Leo asks.

Jason shrugs his shoulders. “Nothing. What about you?”

“Same old nothing, as usual.”

I glance between the two of them. “You guys know each other?”

Leo smiles. “Living out here, you make friends where you can, with any idiot that’s around.”

“I’m an idiot? You’re the one who sounds like a SoCal pothead.” Jason playfully pops Leo in the stomach. A quick tussle follows. It breaks up quickly, and when the dust settles, we all look at each other.

“So…” I’m not sure what to do next.

“Yeah,” Jason says, directing a questioning glance my way.

Leo rolls his eyes. “You guys are doing something, huh?”

This is stupid. Each of these guys knows portions of the craziness that’s been going on that the other doesn’t. If I were smart, I’d get Leo to come along. Whether or not he wants to is something else. I take a chance and blurt out, “We’re going into the woods to find the ghost.”

I couldn’t have shocked him more. “You’re joking, right?” He looks from me to Jason, who’s got a huge grin on his face, and then back to me.

I shake my head and find a similar grin is on my face. “You wanna come?”

“Bro…” He draws the word out. “I’m standing in the middle of nowhere, with no girl in sight and a long night ahead of me. Got nothing better brewing.”

“All right, then.” It feels odd hanging with these guys. I’m not much into group activities, and that I think three makes up a group is telling. My friend status hangs near zero.

Jason thumps me on the back. “Where to?”

I know exactly where. I dig out the flashlight and hand it to Leo. “Come on.”

We enter the forest, armed with the knowledge not all is as it seems. Even though it’s still light, I know the girl in white could already be here. Stalking us. Is she the reason my skin crawls with each step I take?

The trees in this area are well spaced, and the three of us trudge along, side by side, but I’m leading. As they talk about what’s to come, I hear things that can’t be, like little whispers and grumblings. My jaw aches from the tension I’m carrying. I do my best to ignore the odd noises and keep walking.

“How do you know about all this?” Jason asks Leo.

“One of my sheep flew into the trees.”

Jason laughs. Thinks Leo is joking. Then he sees our unsmiling faces and sobers up fast. “How?”

Leo shoots me a silent question asking why I hadn’t told Jason about the ewe. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the one-too-many theory. Like one too many cookies makes you sick, or one too many yawns makes you tired. For me, maybe one too many crazy stories makes you crazy.

I’d rather not sound crazy, so I say, “Go ahead and tell him.”

Leo jumps at the chance. “Little flying lights lifted her up and carried her into the trees.”

“What?” Jason exclaims. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Bro,” Leo says in his deep, smooth voice that implies trustworthiness. “It’s insane, but it’s real. I saw it with my own eyes.”

The trees grow thicker, our way more erratic, and I glance at Jason.

Skepticism lurks in his eyes. “Is this some kind of alien experiment thing?”

“We don’t know,” Leo says at the same time I say, “No.”

I’m probably asking to get teased, but I decide it’s time to share what’s been rumbling around in my head. “I’ve got a theory.”

Sort of.

“Let’s hear it.” Jason moves around a thin pole of a tree, his expression eager. Eager to mock or eager to learn? “Come on,” he presses, when I don’t immediately speak up.

“It’s gonna sound stupid,” I say, as I avoid touching the trees. It’s getting harder to do, but I’m determined. The air is getting heavier. My mind is growing sharper, seeing things that can’t possibly be happening. The earth is moving. Grass springs from the earth, and tiny vines shoot up to cling to whatever they can find as I pass. The trees quiver, not from the wind, but from within. I shake my head to clear it of the impossible. When I reopen my eyes, everything is still.

Jason whips himself in front of me, forcing me to stop. “I’m used to stupid.”

“Me too,” Leo says. “You should hear Pop go off. Ghosts. Aliens. Headless chickens that won’t die…”

The pair lean in. My audience of two hangs by the thread of my imagination. But this isn’t something I’ve made up. I know what I saw was real, and I’ve only found one plausible explanation. “The lights are a kind of plasma.”

Disbelief shadows their faces. It’s a hard sell, but I think I’m on to something, so I go further. “A ghost can materialize in several forms. They can manipulate plasma. Jason and I saw the girl form. Grandpa and I saw the glowing lights. None of us have seen both at the same time.”

“Plasma,” says Leo, digesting the theory.

Jason snorts and shakes his head. “Where’d you learn that? Comic books?”

“You can go back if you don’t want to be here,” I say.

Jason grins. “Lighten up, new guy. I’m on your side. I saw her, too, but come on, this is pretty weird shit you’re shoveling at me.”

“Look, it’s a theory. I don’t know what they are, but I know they’re real.”

“And you think the girl and those things are connected?” he asks.

“That’s my guess. Anybody have a better theory, speak up.”

Leo jabs his toe into the dirt. “She could be from another dimension.”

Jason and I give him blank looks.

“You know. Einstein? His theory of eleven dimensions? Which is cute, because I’ve personally calculated twenty-six.”

He looks expectantly at us. I glance at Jason, see his confusion—not that it comforts me much, because Jason’s not exactly an honor roll student—but at least I’m not the only one lost here.

Leo sighs. “Hello. String theory? You know, how electrons are like vibrating guitar strings? If you manipulate the energy, like plucking a guitar string, you can split time, move through dimensions. The scary part about string theory is that it’s connected to dark matter, which is like a black hole on steroids. Use it, and you can get sucked into nothing, which, you know, would be a wicked ride to instant death.”

“Uh-huh,” I say, my brain still grasping at what he’s saying.

“Yeah, but then she glows, so I’m also thinking there’s some sort of bioluminescence happening. Mix oxygen with Luciferin, and bam! She could’ve been trying to communicate with you. Did she pulse, like Morse Code? Or she could’ve been luring you away to eat you.”

Jason turns to me. “Plasma, huh?”

“I like the ghost theory, too.” Leo’s jumps in. “You know, plasma’s an ionized gas, the fourth state of matter. Its free electrons are charged, which makes it magnetic.”

We stare at him like he’s grown two heads.

Jason looks him up and down. “Who
are
you?”

“What? I like science.”

“You really need to find a girl,” I say.

Jason nods. “Definitely.”

“It’s common knowledge you can see the stuff when it heats up,” Leo says in his defense. “Stars are made out of plasma.”

“Okay.” I seriously need to start paying attention in science class. “But ghosts make everything cold.” I know that from watching the Syfy channel.

Leo shrugs. “Maybe it sucks the heat out of the air and everything around it in order to materialize?”

“Makes sense,” I say, “in a soul-sucking way.”

Jason stares at Leo and holds up his hand as if he’s at school. “So, how do we get rid of it?”

Whoa, what’s Jason talking about? “Guys, we’re not here to get rid of her. I just want to catch her. Talk to her.”

“That’s right,” Jason smirks. “She’s your dream girl.”

“She’s not—”

He turns to Leo, cutting me off. “So, how do we catch her?”

Leo looks from him to me, and lifts his eyebrows. “Don’t look at me. I don’t know.”

“Great,” Jason grumbles. “We’re tracking an entity that comes to life by sucking all the heat out of the air, and all we have is a flash light and Dylan’s backpack. What’s in there anyway? Better be a ghost de-materializer.”

“Scared?” Leo asks, and rubs Jason’s hair like a father would his son. “You want to go home, little man—”

Leo stops. His hand moves along Jason’s skull. Their eyes lock. “When’d that happen?”

Jason shoves Leo’s hand away. “None of your damn business.”

I don’t have a clue what’s going on, but I know it’s not good. “Guys?”

Leo won’t stop. He wrestles with Jason, though having fifty pounds on Leo gives Jason all the advantage, and they fall to the ground. Pinning Jason isn’t Leo’s objective. It’s the guy’s shirt. With one swipe, he’s got Jason’s shirt over his head, his back bare to our eyes. Bruises and welts criss-cross his back like a three-dimensional chess board. Just looking at them makes my back hurt.

Leo hops up. “Look what he did to you! Why do you put up with it?”

Jason struggles to his feet, pulling his shirt down and throwing Leo an angry glare. “What am I supposed to do? He’s my dad.”

“But he beats you,” I say.

Jason gets in my face, his lips as thin and bloodless as the whisper he lets out, “I hit back. So can we drop the ‘poor Jason’ bit?”

“Sure.” What else can I say?

Silence fills the air until Leo breaks it. “We should have brought sweaters. Technically, when we find her, we could go hypothermic.”

Jason turns and pushes his way into the trees, trampling bushes and grumbling to himself about amateurs. Unsurprisingly, our lack of preparation doesn’t alter our plans. Leo follows Jason, and I bring up the rear. I want it that way. Jason’s leading us in the general direction of where I’ve seen the girl.

The gray tones of evening find the forest quicker than the open fields. The shadows thicken and blur the edges of my vision as we make our way further into the trees. Without trying, I’m aware of the life that infuses the forest. I can sense where an owl has made her nest, how she and her mate take great care to guard it from predators. I know what creatures lurk beneath our feet, scratching and digging as they rummage for food. Eyes of differing sizes blink red against the deepening night, watching me pass. The trees huddle closer, like their branches are reaching out to pluck me from the ground.

The forest exhales as if, in one breath, it wishes to tell me something. I shut out the noise.