The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) (2 page)

“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.”

Steven hadn’t been very close with his father until recently,
when his father helped him with a problem in his new house. Steven had been let
go from his long-held job, and was taking a sabbatical from work life to enjoy
his new home, but the house had been doing strange things, making knocking
noises in the middle of the night, and he’d seen some things that made him
think he was losing his mind. When Roy learned what was happening, he helped
Steven realize he wasn’t crazy – his house really was haunted. Roy had “the
gift” and helped Steven realize that he had it too – he’d just been too
rational and unbelieving to ever notice it and use it. They resolved Steven’s
haunting problem, and Roy began teaching Steven how to use the gift he inherited.
Since that time, they helped a few friends resolve problems they had with
hauntings, and Steven met other people who shared his ability.

Steven and Roy were both able to enter a place they called
“The River,” an alternative perspective on the world, constantly in motion,
swirling around and through everything. When they jumped into the River, they
could see things that most people couldn’t. The ability to see things in the
River was what most people considered “the gift.” Steven inherited it from Roy,
and Roy inherited it from his father.

Roy spent many years learning from his father, David. David gave
Roy a book he kept, recording his experiences and knowledge. David inherited it
from his father and grandfather. It was a thick, hand-made book, with sections
belonging to each of his progenitors. Each section was bound onto the previous
one, so the book was a little unusual in shape and the subject matter within
was without an index or guide – you just had to read it to pick things up.

Unfortunately, Steven couldn’t read much of it. Although it
was written in English, none of it made any sense to him – until he experienced
something related to what he was reading. The experience gave him context that
made sections of the book understandable. Roy had much more experience dealing
with the River, and was able to read and understand a great deal more of the
book than Steven could. But he was beginning to pick it up. As they encountered
other ghosts and unusual creatures and objects, more and more of the book came
into focus for Steven. But he still understood only ten percent of it.

As they drove back to June Williamson’s house to meet with
her once again, Steven considered how much of the book he understood – which
was very little compared to Roy – and it surprised him that Roy didn’t seem to
detect the same sense of evil that Steven detected at her house. Maybe it was
something he was more tuned to, to use Roy’s words. Part of him was dreading
setting foot in the house again, but when he was working with Roy, Steven found
there was a sort of momentum that built between them that always pushed things
forward, sometimes unwittingly carrying them along. He decided they should help
June, and Roy agreed. Now the train was on rails, and Steven knew it’d be hard
to stop it, even if he wanted to.

“Come in!” June said, looking down as she opened the door. “I
can’t thank you both enough for agreeing to help me,” she said, ushering them
inside and inviting them to sit once again in her living room. Steven noticed
that she hadn’t looked up at them.

“June,” Steven said, “is something wrong?”

June didn’t respond, just kept looking down. She finally
raised her head to face them, and Steven gasped. There was a large cut on her
left cheek, and bruises around her right eye.

“Jesus Christ!” Roy said. “What happened to you?”

“I’m fine, really,” she said, a weak smile appearing briefly
on her face, but the smile caused her cut to open, and she stopped smiling when
she felt the pain.

“You don’t look fine,” Steven said. “What happened?”

“It was stupid, really,” she said. “I got in the way.”

“In the way of what?” Roy asked.

“One of the ghosts, I suppose,” she said. “Robbie had tripped
on something in the kitchen, and I went over to him to see if he was all right.
I don’t know how I fell. Robbie didn’t either. I think the same ghost that
tripped him, tripped me. Anyway, I went down, right at the edge of the table.
Hit my eye, you can see it’s pretty banged up. Then — this is so stupid — I
reached up to the table to pull myself up, and there was a knife there that I
knocked somehow. It came down and hit my cheek. I guess I’m lucky I didn’t lose
my eye.”

“You were right,” Roy said, turning to Steven.

“Right?” June asked. “About what?”

“My son feels you’re in danger,” Roy said. “He noticed
something the last time we were here. It’s why we’ve agreed to help you.”

“What did you notice?” June asked Steven. “Did you see
something?”

“No,” Steven said, “felt. I felt something.”

“What was it?” she asked.

Steven didn’t want to alarm June. He felt sorry for her,
seeing her banged up and cut. She was already clearly worried about her child
and grandchild. He didn’t want to add to her stress.

“I think you’re right,” Steven said. “There’s something here,
and we need to help you get rid of it. I don’t know what it is exactly. But
we’ll do what we can.”

“What can I do to help?” June said. “What do you need?”

“We want to start by finding out more about the ghosts that
are here,” Steven said. “The first thing we’d like to try is a trance. My
father will go into a meditative state, and he’ll be able to see what’s in the
house. Then we’ll go from there.”

“Do you think it will take more than an hour?” June said. “My
daughter and grandson are due back in about that time.”

“I would expect we’d be done with the first trance by then,”
Roy said. “Since I will be blindfolded, Steven will watch over me to make sure
I don’t get up and walk into something.”

“Do you want me to stay?” June asked.

“Yes, you can stay,” Steven said. “Just don’t make any noise,
don’t say anything, unless for some reason Roy talks to you during the trance.
He usually doesn’t. We won’t know much until he comes out of the trance and
tells us what he saw.”

“Alright,” June said. “I’ll be as silent as a mouse.” She sat
back in her chair, watching Steven wrap the blindfold around Roy’s head. Using
a blindfold was Roy’s preferred method of inducing a trance, which was a step
deeper than the River. Roy was an expert at trancing, but Steven hadn’t yet
mastered the art of it. Steven had learned how to enter and exit the River at
will, but he’d only been in a trance a couple of times, and most of the time
he’d joined trances already initiated by Roy. He hadn’t developed the skill to
start a trance on his own.

After applying the blindfold, Steven sat back down on the
couch, next to Roy. He entered the River himself, knowing it would take Roy at
least five or ten minutes to go deeply enough to enter the trance. The moment
he entered the River he knew it was a bad idea. He felt sick and nauseous, as
though he wanted to vomit. There was a stench in the air that smelled like a
mixture of rotten eggs and excrement. He felt the hair stand up on the back of
his neck, his animal brain reacting on full alert. He dropped out of the flow
and back to reality, feeling a small stab of pain at the back of his neck – a
side effect of leaving the River that always seemed to occur.

Steven looked at Roy. He knew Roy would have entered the
River first before proceeding to the trance.
He must have sensed it,
Steven thought. Steven wanted to try entering the River again, but his job,
while Roy was trancing, was to watch over Roy and make sure he was physically
OK. What he’d seen in the River in just the few seconds he’d been in it made
him think going back into the River was a bad idea. Something was definitely
wrong here, and he needed to stick with his assignment to watch over Roy rather
than explore on his own.

Most of the trances he’d seen Roy perform lasted from ten to
thirty minutes, depending on what Roy was trying to find out. Steven was
settling back into the sofa to wait out this trance when Roy abruptly stood and
removed the blindfold from his head. Steven, startled, jumped to his feet.

“Are you OK?” Steven asked Roy, concerned. Roy had been in
the trance only a minute. He’d never seen him leave a trance so suddenly and so
quickly.

“I’m afraid we won’t be able to help you,” Roy said to June. “Steven,
we’re leaving.”

Roy began walking to the door, wadding the blindfold up and
stuffing it into his coat pocket.

“What happened?” Steven asked.

“You won’t be able to help?” June asked, confused, rising to
her feet.

“I’ll explain later,” Roy said, not turning around. “Steven,
let’s go.”

Steven stood and looked at June. They shared a confused look,
then Steven followed Roy. Roy opened the door and walked out, heading to
Steven’s car.

Steven walked through the door and turned back to June. “I’m
sorry, I don’t know what happened.”

June looked like she wanted to cry. “Did I do something
wrong?” she asked Steven.

“No,” Steven said, “I don’t think it was anything you did.”

“Steven!” Roy called from the car. “Come at once!
Now!
”

As Steven watched he saw a small cut form in the flesh of
June’s neck, a couple of inches below her chin. Her skin was wrinkled there, as
it was in many older women, and he watched as the cut widened to be about an
inch wide. Blood began to drip from the cut.

“You’re bleeding,” he said to her, point to his own neck. “On
your neck, here.”

Her eyes grew wide and she held her fingers up to her neck.
She felt the warmth of the liquid and pulled her fingers away so she could
examine them. When she saw the dark red on her fingers, she gasped and raised
her other hand to her throat.

“Go inside and bandage it,” Steven said.

“
Steven!
” Roy bellowed, insistent.

“I’ll call you when I know what’s going on,” he said, leaving
her at the door and returning to the car.

“What was that about?” he asked Roy, outside the car.

“Get in the car and drive,” Roy said. “We need to get out of
here.”

◊

After they were several blocks from the house, Steven
repeated his question. “Tell me why I left her bleeding on the porch like
that?”

“We were the cause,” Roy said. “Had we stayed any longer, it
might have been worse.”

“We were the cause of what?” Steven asked. “What did you see
in the trance?”

“The reason she was all banged up in the first place was
retaliation for our visit to her yesterday,” Roy said. “In the trance, I didn’t
get much past the River before I saw the blade at her throat.”

“Blade?” Steven asked, incredulous. “At her throat?”

“I had the distinct impression,” Roy said, “that if I went
any further, whatever or whoever was controlling the blade would use it on
her.”

“There was a cut on her throat,” Steven said, “as I was
leaving her at the door. I saw it appear.”

“If you had come when I called,” Roy said, “she might not
have been cut. I realized we needed to remove ourselves from the house for her
safety.”

Fuck
, Steven thought.
I was only trying to answer her questions, give her
some kind of comfort as we were running out the door, abandoning her. Instead I
almost killed her.

“This is beyond me,” Roy said. “It’s demonic on a level I
have no experience with.”

“Demonic?” Steven asked, driving through the streets of
Beacon Hill. “I thought you didn’t believe in evil.”

“I told you I believe there are things that are the opposite
of good,” he said. “And I meant it. There are. Whatever this is, it’s not a
ghost, and it’s not human. So that leaves it in the third category you
mentioned.”

“We can’t leave her like this,” Steven said. “We told her
we’d help her.”

“We won’t be helping her by getting her throat slit,” Roy
said. “I can tell you right now, we’re outgunned on this one.”

“I jumped in the River,” Steven said, “as you were starting
your trance. I smelled something so bad I had to jump back out.”

“It’s demonic,” Roy said. “I’ll have to call Dixon, see if he
knows someone who can help us.”

“What,” Steven said, “like a priest?”

“I doubt it,” Roy said. “I don’t think a priest would know
what to do with this thing. Probably just get her killed.”

“What about June?” Steven said. “We can’t just leave her
hanging. We need to know she’s alright.”

“You can call her,” Roy said. “Tell her we’re reconsidering
if we can help or not. I don’t want her even thinking we’ll be back. It’s too
dangerous for her. And don’t tell her that, either. No sense in worrying the
poor woman even more.”

“She’ll be worried that we’re not going to help her,” Steven
said. “Either way, she’ll worry.”

“Until we know what we’re dealing with,” Roy said, “I’d
rather have her thinking we’re out of the picture. I’m serious about this, son.
I know you want to calm her nerves, but if she starts thinking or saying we’re
still going to help, it might get her killed.”