What Haunts Me (12 page)

Billy took Point Lobos Avenue east until we reached 43
^rd
Avenue, then she pulled into the small parking lot in front of a Walgreens drug store. As she began to get out of the car, she said, “Come on, we need to get you a passport photo.”

I hurried after her and reached for her arm before she made it to the door. “Billy, I have a current passport.”

“Good, I was hoping you did, but you'll need at least one more, maybe two.” She shook herself loose and continued into the store, where she hunted down a clerk and explained what we needed. I followed them both to a corner of the store where a drab light grey screen was pulled down. The clerk grabbed a camera and lined me up in front of the screen, then snapped a bunch of pictures. She told us we could pick the photos up at the checkout counter in a few minutes. I hoped to God the lump on my head wasn't too noticeable in the pictures.

When we were back in the car, I asked, “I take it these other passports will have different names?”

“Well of course: wouldn't make much sense to have two or three passports in the same name, would it?” she replied sarcastically.

“Fine. How do you plan on doing that?”

“The Watchers will help us out. They'll want something in return, but we'll deal with that later. The most important thing is to get you away from Vokkel until we can figure out what to do about him.”

She'd admitted to being a loner, but she also admitted to being in touch with the network of ghost killers. I thought maybe her connection was a little stronger than she'd led me to believe.

“Just how connected are you to the Watchers?”

She glanced over at me. “Look, we're not best friends or anything. In fact, they don't exactly like me that much, but like I said, I'm powerful so they need me. And, in all honesty, they have resources, and you never know when you're going to need help, so we have a mutual tolerance for each other, which so far has worked out just fine.”

“Why don't they like you?”

She angled her head and scowled at me, and I couldn't help but laugh. I was guessing their reasons weren't too far off my initial reasons for disliking her. I decided to change the subject.

“What's the story with the glasses?” I asked.

“Glasses?”

“Yeah, round rimmed, Harry Potter or John Lennon style.”

She laughed. “Right, okay, so I wondered about that a long time ago and decided to do some research. Couldn't find a damn thing about ghosts and glasses, but I did find some dream references that sort of make sense. Apparently, if you're dreaming of glasses it's supposed to represent a clearer view of a problem or situation. I think maybe it's something like that; we, as in ghost killers, can see a problem that no one else can.”

I thought that was a stretch at best. “Have you asked any of your associates in the field about it?”

Based on her response, she apparently thought my question was absurd. “Associates in the field? Are you kidding me?”

“You know what I mean, Billy!” We were back to nipping at each other.

“Okay, fine. We aren't quite like that, at least I'm not. I guess some of us socialize with each other, but not me, so no, I haven't asked.”

“What about the guy that clocked me, your buddy Caleb? You seemed to know him pretty well. I even got the impression you two had some history.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn't exactly call it history. Remember I told you that a guy approached me when I was in college?” She glanced over at me and I nodded.

“That was Caleb. He knew a lot of stuff and he filled in a lot of blanks for me, things that I didn't learn from Anne or the diaries. We hung around for a while, until I realized he was working for Vokkel.”

“What do you mean?”

“Vokkel was so positive that I was going to be like Grandma Billy; after all, if she hadn't been nuts, she probably would have been one of the most powerful ghost killers of all time. Anyway, he sent Caleb to cozy up to me and try and figure out where I was on the scale. I guess he figured that a good looking guy could weasel his way into a young college girl's heart, or something stupid like that.”

There was bitterness in her voice, but there was more to it than that. I was pretty sure she'd fallen for Caleb, at least enough to be pretty hurt by his betrayal.

“He liked to drink, a lot. We'd hit bars together, and on occasion he let some things slip. So one night while he was passed out, I went through his cell phone call history and found two numbers with San Francisco area codes. I called the first number and Edgar answered. I didn't need any more proof than that. When he woke up the next morning I was there and we had a little chat.” She glanced my way; that evil little smirk was there, and so was that unpleasant glint in her eyes.

“What'd you do?” I was dying to know. I was pretty sure her version of a “chat” didn't involve much talking.

“After a few choice words and perhaps a broken nose and sprained wrist, I sent him home to Vokkel.” That answer made me smile, a lot.

“Why did Caleb know your cell number?” Since Caleb was working for Vokkel and was essentially a bad guy in all of this, that question really should have come up sooner.

Billy shifted in her seat, but finally answered. “Like I said, Caleb had worked for Vokkel in the past and I had every reason to believe he was still working for him. After I got here, I went to Vokkel's house—not inside mind you, but I staked the place out for a little while. I saw Caleb go in, and when he left twenty minutes later, I followed him. I wanted to know what Vokkel was up to. Caleb told me that Vokkel had him on the payroll to track ghost killers, to let Vokkel know who they were.” She looked over at me. “He said he didn't know you…I should've known he was lying. Anyway, I gave him my number and told him to call me if Vokkel ever mentioned you or if he ever saw you.”

Once we were home and in the hallway to our respective apartments, Billy asked, “Do you want me to come with you…to call your dad?”

“Thanks, but no, I need to do this alone. I'll see you in the morning,” I replied, and smiled feebly.

I decided I needed some liquid courage first, so I grabbed a beer. Once I'd swallowed half of it, I sent my dad a text message so he'd know to log onto Skype. Then I turned my computer on and waited. It took him five minutes to respond. His face was still tan from spending the summer and early fall outdoors, and he wore a t-shirt under his favorite cardigan sweater. The ensemble usually meant he was in for the night and probably watching TV in his recliner.

“Hey boy, been a while. What'cha been up to?” He asked. His smile turned into a frown when he registered my expression, which was a mixture of anger and exhaustion. He said, “George, what's wrong? And what happened to your head?”

I suddenly realized that I wanted this conversation to be over quickly. My dad was a straightforward sort of guy, so I decided not to beat around the bush and just spit it all out in one long breath. “Dad, I've been seeing ghosts and I've been killing them. A bad guy named Vokkel tried to kidnap me, and he even put a bounty on my head. He thinks I can make him live a really long time because I have this special power or something.” I sighed and took a breath. “So, how about you tell me about Mom?”

From the second I said ghosts, my dad's complexion began to pale. Now he looked sallow and old. He dragged both hands down his face and looked back at the camera. “Good God son, I'm so sorry. What else do you know so far?”

Shaking my head, I said, “No Dad, you tell me what you know and we'll go from there.” I tried desperately not to let my anger show through. He'd obviously known what was happening a few months back when I asked about little Camille and my friend from college, and I realized that was the reason for his suspicious attitude. It was also another betrayal by someone I trusted and loved. What the hell was wrong with these people? Why did they think I was some kid that needed to be protected from the truth?

“Yeah, okay,” he sighed heavily. “This ghost slaying business—ghost slaying, that's what your mom called it—anyway, it's been going on since God was a baby. From what I know there's different levels of power, and your mom's family was at the top of that. Going way, way back, they only married other ghost slayers, and each new generation was more powerful than the previous one. Eventually that got the attention of other people who figured out what they could do and wanted to harness that power for their own uses. You following me so far?” I nodded. Billy had told me some things about the various levels, and if Vokkel knew what I came from, that would explain his interest in me.

“Right, so the family went into hiding and kept away from other ghost slayers, and especially stopped having babies with them. They figured they could breed this power out of the family line and you all could eventually live normal lives. But not every generation has a ghost slayer born to it, and with globalization and all it became impossible to know who had the genes and who didn't. And your mother's family disposition to this damn curse was so strong, all they needed was someone with a latent gene to kick things up again. Which meant every once-in-a-while a really powerful kid would be born. Your mother was one of those kids…I guess you are too. They did the best they could to keep her a secret, but it was hard to do that with a six year old that was running around poking at unseen things all the time, and screaming that she killed the bad guy and the kid in the park no longer had a club foot, or the old lady no longer had crippling arthritis. They moved around a lot, and with a little help from this network of people that were aware of you guys, I can't remember their names….” He was snapping his fingers like that would make it come to him.

“The Watchers…they're called the Watchers,” I said quietly.

He looked at me with those sad eyes. “Yeah, that's them. So anyway, those people helped the best they could, but one day your mom was kidnapped and taken to this Vokkel guy in Switzerland. He did everything he could to get her to summon, talk to, and control ghosts, but your mom refused and just curled up into a mental ball and shut everyone and everything out. It took almost a year for them to get her back, and it cost your grandfather his life, and eventually it cost your grandmother hers.”

“What do you mean?” I could hear a tremble in my voice. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what happened, but I knew I needed to.

“Your grandparents went to the 'school,' as Vokkel apparently called it, along with some of these watcher people. They had someone on the inside that helped them out…that's actually how they found out where your mom was in the first place. Anyway, they got her, and when they were escaping, one of Vokkel's lackeys shot your grandfather; he bled out before they could get him help. But Vokkel also had one of his more powerful slayers send a nasty demon after them, one that could somehow keep himself hidden from the slayers. That bastard haunted your grandmother and gave her a fast moving disease that killed her within months.” He sighed again, like telling me all of this was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

“Now, I don't know if your mom had any other family, but the Watchers decided that she needed protection and they sent her to an older couple in Wisconsin. These people had no affiliation what-so-ever with the slayers, at least that your mom ever knew of, so I guess everyone figured she'd be safe there as long as she kept her power to herself, which even at a young age she understood. She grew up, went off to college, and didn't have any problems. Although she did kill the occasional ghost along the way, she just managed to keep under the radar.

“After nursing school she decided to take an internship at a hospital in San Francisco. She was working the emergency room one night when this woman was brought in. The lady was scratched-up like she'd been in a fight, and was raving like a lunatic. Your mom was trying to calm her down when she realized that she recognized the woman. She was an older version of a young woman your mom remembered from Vokkel's school.” Dad paused, then said, “I need a drink, hold on a sec.” He placed the IPad down and I was treated to a live view of his ceiling for a minute.

When he came back, he had a whiskey in hand and was rattling the ice around to chill it. Once he was settled again, he said, “I got a bit ahead of myself; let me back up a little. The demon that killed your grandmother, remember I said it could hide itself from the slayers?” He didn't wait for a reply. “Well, it couldn't hide itself from your mother, she was too powerful. But your mom was too young and to traumatized at that point to understand what it was and what it was doing. When that lady came into the emergency room, that very same demon was with her and it was trying to kill her. Your mom realized what it was and it realized what she was, and it took off. Now mind you, your mom witnessed her father getting shot and watched her mother die a slow death, but she managed to mostly repress all of that until that night in the emergency room, and when it all came back she damn near lost her mind.”

Dad took a long pull off his whiskey and I realized I wanted one too. I said, “Hold on Dad.” After I got my own glass and sat back down, Dad smiled weakly and tipped his glass at me. I returned both gestures.

“All right, where was I? So anyway, this woman calms down and the two of them have a chat. The woman…damn, I can't remember her name.” He tapped his finger against his glass in concentration.

“Billy…her name was Billy Wilkinson.”

Dad's eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You know her?”

I shook my head. “Not her specifically…she's dead. I guess that demon finally got her. I know her family though, and one of them is like me.”

Dad's surprise was reflected in his expression, but he just nodded and said, “You'll need to tell me about that later, let me finish this first. The woman, Billy, said that the doctor from the institution was nearby, and she believed he had sent that demon after her. Your mother panicked. Even all those years later, she still had nightmares about Vokkel and what he'd done to her, and she wanted to get as far away as she could. The Watchers had always kept loose ties with her, checking in every so often to be sure she was okay, so she got in touch with them and they gave her a whole new identity and helped her relocate. She moved to Southern California and got a job in the emergency room at the hospital. That's where we met. I'd broken my leg and she was the attending nurse. Anyway, she eventually told me everything and she showed me that sharing-the-sight thing…can you do that too?” Instead of waiting for an answer, he said, “I suppose you can if this doctor is after you.

“When you started talking about ghosts and stuff we got really worried. If you were anything like your mother, you would be very powerful and you would be in danger. So once again, your mom called her watcher buddies for help. She wanted them to hypnotize you into not remembering what you already knew, but also put a trigger in your subconscious that if this ghost killer thing broke through and you became aware of them, your mind would immediately erase it. I guess it didn't stick.”

“It did for a while,” I said quietly.

“When you told me a couple of months ago about those memories, I was terrified. But you didn't seem to think they were real, so I let it go. I'm sorry…I should have told you everything then.”

I couldn't think of a response. There were too many connections between my family and Billy's, and it left me wondering if I'd been steered toward this. Was there someone or something that had guided me with an invisible hand to San Francisco, where this “curse” as my dad called it would finally break through my subconscious? Where I'd encounter Vokkel and meet Billy, the granddaughter of the monster that had killed my grandparents? It was almost too much—until my dad spoke again, then it was too much.

“The Watchers agreed to help us…help you, but there was a price to be paid this time. They wanted something from your mother; they wanted her to kill someone.” He dragged his hands down his face, and when he looked up again he seemed so tired and so old, it hurt me to look at him.

“When your mom saw that woman, Billy, in San Francisco and remembered everything that had happened to her and who was responsible, she went through a really dark period. She was filled with hate and anger, and she wanted revenge more than she'd ever wanted anything. It took her a long time to get over that and the Watchers knew it. They reminded her in great detail about her imprisonment and the deaths of her parents. They wanted her mad as hell. And it worked…she turned into someone unfamiliar, someone filled with rage and vengeance. She scared me. I begged her to back down, but she wouldn't; she said if she didn't do this, then we would have to hide for the rest of our lives, and she refused to allow that life for you…for us.”

“Was it Vokkel she was supposed to kill?”

He shook his head. “No, it was someone else, the man that Vokkel worked for; I think the man's name was Markel, or something like that. Your mom went to Europe. She was gone for almost three months, and when she came back she was an entirely different person. She'd lost her shine, her happiness, everything that made her what she was. She only told me two things about those months; one was that she did kill her target, the second thing was on her death bed.” His eyes were slowly filling with tears, and I watched one escape and slide down his cheek. “She couldn't get physically close enough to Markel to kill him herself, so she employed the help of a demon. If it inflicted a quick and painful disease on the man, she would arrange for immunity from the other slayers. It did and Markel died in a month or so. But this demon was connected to Vokkel somehow, and when Vokkel found out that your mom was alive and well and had killed his mentor, he sent the demon after her. It haunted her for six long months, a nice fast moving cancer…she said she had to do it to save us.”

Dad was crying in earnest now; a silent torrent of tears was rolling down his cheeks, and I wished I was there with him, to comfort him. I wasn't mad any more. I got it now. If my mother could sacrifice her life for me, he sure as hell wasn't going to let that sacrifice go to waste. He was going to protect me the best way he knew how, which for him meant keeping quiet. His waterworks were contagious and I could feel my eyes filling up. A tear made its way down my face and dripped off my chin, landing on my hand and momentarily startling me. I knew then and there that I would make Vokkel pay, I just wasn't sure how.

Dad cleared his throat and used his sleeve to dry his eyes and face, then said, “Tell me what you know, son.”

I gave him a full recap on the last few months, from the beginning all the way up to the part about needing to hit the road. He'd never seemed old to me before, but now he did. The lines around his eyes and mouth had deepened, and he was sporting a serious set of wrinkles on his forehead.

“Do you think this girl, the grand-daughter, can protect you?” he asked.

I never thought of Billy as a protector; a guide maybe—then I laughed. The image of Billy kicking Caleb's ass told me all I needed to know. “Yeah Dad, she's something else. She's the most obnoxious person I've ever met, she's full of piss and vinegar, and she's strong.”

He tilted his head to the side and said, “Sounds like you like her, boy.” He was smirking like a schoolboy.

“Not like that Dad, she's just…I don't know, she's like a bratty little sister. You know, a constant thorn in my side.”

He smiled, but suddenly became sullen. “Son, you need to watch out for that demon that killed your mother. I don't know if it's still around, but if it is and knows how strong you are, it's going to come after you too.”

I nodded my agreement and then realized something else; now that Vokkel knew who I was, he wouldn't have any trouble finding my dad and possibly hurting him to get at me. “Dad, will you be safe? I mean, do you think they'll come looking for me through you?”

He didn't answer right away and it didn't matter; I was going to make sure he was safe. Phil James, my new ghost-tour friend, had said he'd put me in touch with the Watchers; Billy could probably do that too, but I thought Phil would be the better bet since he was on good terms with them. I would ask them to protect my dad…they owed me that much. But there was something else I was going to do too. I was going to find that demon and kill it.