Chapter 15

All that was on Jenn’s mind as she rode her bicycle down to the mailbox was the fact that her Daddy wasn’t coming home. She was so lost in her disappointment that at first she didn’t even notice the strange man until he addressed her.

“Why hello, little girl. How are you today?” Lance spoke in a sweet, understanding voice as he stood by the mailbox. It was the same tone he had used many times while he was alive to grow closer to sad little girls who would end up dead. “Why do you look so gloomy?”

All it took was eye contact and Lance knew that he had her undivided attention. Jenn cut her gaze away quickly, but the fact that she had made a terrible mistake couldn’t be ignored. She had promised Billy and Gregg that she would stay away from this ghost and now she could see why they had been so stern in their warnings. She could almost smell the evil coming off this man. All she wanted to do was check to see if the letter her father had sent last week had gotten there. She had missed him so badly after his phone call that she had inadvertently put herself in danger.

“Here’s a pretty little flower, for a pretty little girl.” Lance reached out to her, holding a wilted daisy in his fingers.

“I can’t take things from strangers.” Jenn’s voice was wavering and soft, and full of fear as she watched the petals of the flower ruffle in the breeze. She kept her eyes down and away from his.

“It’s just a flower, sweetheart, that’s all it is. A flower’s never hurt anyone.”

How wrong he was, she couldn’t help but to think of Venus flytraps with their gaping jaws, luring in insects with the promises of sweet doom.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” She cringed as the man laughed. It was a dangerous sound and though she wanted nothing more than to grip the handlebars of her bike and head back to the house, her feet were glued in place while her heart hammered away in her chest. Her mouth went dry as small beads of perspiration began to form at her temples.

“What are you afraid of, angel? I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice was smooth as honey and full of luring compassion. Jenn knew if she looked up into his face, his expression would match it.

“I have to go now, I have to go home, my Momma’s waiting for me.” Her voice sounded a thousand miles away to her ears, but she finally found the courage to grip the handlebars and back away slowly from the man.

She had passed through the faint light of what was left of Billy’s nightly barrier since the mailbox was across the road, and as she began to back away, Lance felt a sudden rush of fear of his own. He was so close to this little victim and she was about to slip away from his grasp. The back tire of the bike was almost to the thin shimmering wall and like a lion after a young gazelle, he sprang forward and gripped her wrist tightly, his face contorted with rage. Jenn let out a sharp squeal of panic and tried to wrench back, but the grip was too strong. Finally, she lifted a terror filled face up to gaze into his and cried out again at the way rage had twisted his features.

The bike clattered to the gravel as Lance snatched Jenn close to him, twisting her wrist just to see the pain on her face. “Where do you think you’re going you sniveling little brat?” he snarled. “I said I wasn’t going to hurt you, oh no, I’m going to go beyond hurt, little angel.” His voice sounded like the gravel her feet were now being drug along. Jenn tried to twist in his grip, fighting for all she was worth as the man began to pull her across the road.

*****

“Please tell me you aren’t going to get my hopes up,” Gregg said through a yawn as he watched Nix walk around his living room. Nix paused to gaze up to the ceiling, and then lightly rapped his knuckles against one of the walls. “I can’t believe Billy has talked to you about honestly considering buying this place. I mean, I really hope you do, it’d be nice for you to have a home of your own.”

“It was his actions more than anything he said that really put my mind to it,” Nix said, recalling the fun they had a few nights ago with his tools and wallet. “And, I’m going to be honest, Gregg,” Nix said. “This place is a wreck.” The whole conversation about buying the home had happened the night when Gregg had rescued Nix from the overzealous spirit’s playful nature. He and Billy had sat down for peace talks about the missing tools over beer; Nix had mentioned his impulsive statement about buying it to Kelly. The more he got to thinking about it, the better it began to sound and when Billy had mentioned it was good for a child to have their own place for their roots to go down, that was the deciding factor for Nix.

“It’s two hundred years old,” Gregg defended as he lifted his arms up high over his head for a grand stretch, and then dropped them. His hair hung loose, falling around his shoulders to his waist in a wavy ebony curtain, and with it down, Nix hadn’t recognized him at first when he arrived at the old house that morning.

“Yeah, I hear you. Why couldn’t it have been kept as nice as Billy’s?”

“Well, for one, it’s so hidden that most people don’t know it’s here. Just horny teens and people who want to drink and party. Also, it’s an old farmhouse, Billy’s is a Victorian, people seem to like those better.”

Nix flashed his friend a grin. “Yeah? You do much to get rid of them?”

Gregg shook his head. “No. I just clean up their mess. I don’t want my home to have the same rumors of hauntings that Billy’s does. That way, I can keep my peace. So, when people come here to get up to mischief, I just go to your place and hang out.”

“I bet that makes Billy mad when they trespass at your place.”

“Oh yes,” Gregg agreed. “He’ll put on a show in his yard to draw their attention most of the time, and sometimes they leave. Sometimes they try to provoke him.”

“That never ends nicely, does it?”

“No, he goes beyond basic scaring and straight into damaging their vehicles.” Gregg floated towards his friend. “So… how bad do you think the damage really is?”

“Well, it’s obvious you two have done your fair share of patchwork,” Nix said as they went into the kitchen. “It’s going to take a lot of backbreaking elbow grease just to get it up to code.”

“It’s solid, I promise,” Gregg said as he moved to one of the windows that faced the forest of the backyard. “They don’t make them like this anymore, with strong bones. Now, it seems, they just build houses to last fifty years before they’re razed and something else rebuilt on top of them.”

“And landscaping, and water lines, and septic,” Nix murmured while Gregg spoke. He pulled out a notepad and pen from his front pocket and began to make notes. “I’m going to be optimistic to say it’s going to take at least a year.”

“Billy and I can help with the inside labor. We’d do more for the outside, but with our luck, someone would come at the wrong time to see a hammer floating in midair pounding in a nail.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Nix agreed as he surveyed the kitchen. “I need to measure out these rooms. This house is almost huge, isn’t it?” he chuckled.

“Yes, it is. And I know what you’re thinking,” Gregg nodded to the wood burning stove. “That would make a nice conversation piece. It came with the house, but you can have an electric or gas stove if you’d like. I use it on my side.”

“I’d love to see it on your side. In fact, that would give me a better idea of where to start.” Nix reached out and touched a flake of paint that was peeling from the wall. “Lead?”

“Lead,” Gregg agreed. “Back when I was alive, we had old fashioned Victorian style wall paper in all the rooms. Over the years, as the house changed hands, the style changed with people’s tastes.”

“Man…” Nix grunted. “That’s awesome. I could do that, but not with the arsenic they used to put in the paste to keep the bugs out. Honestly, though, I’m not a big fan of wallpaper. I’ll probably just end up painting.”

“You know about that!” Gregg said, impressed. “About the arsenic paste!”

Nix turned and grinned at the young spirit. “I’m not as stupid as I look,” he said. “In fact, I like to floor people with my intelligence.”

“You know… it really means a lot to me that you’re taking buying this place seriously.”

“Yeah, but don’t get your hopes up too high right now,” Nix said as they went into the living room. “Like I said, I may be biting off more than I could chew. I should just buy the house and five acres and ‘doze the house and…” he trailed off at the look of horror on Gregg’s face.

“What?”

“You… want to tear down my home?”

“I’m… I’m just saying that maybe that would be easier.” Nix closed his eyes as Gregg turned and darted up the stairs. “Gregg… wait!”

"Please don't tear it down!" Gregg cried out. "Please, please, Nix, don't destroy my home!"

“Come down, let’s talk some more,” Nix said as he gazed up the dark, empty staircase. It struck him as odd how that didn’t bother him. He knew that many people would be ready to run towards the door if they had suddenly found themselves in his boots at that moment. In an old home that smelled of dust and years, alone in the dark with only the sun streaming through cobwebs to lend him any sort of light and calling up to a forlorn ghost. “Gregg?”

Gregg shimmered into view at the top of the staircase, where he gazed down at Nix with a wary look of trepidation. “We can talk, as long as we don’t talk about tearing this place down. You don’t understand how it is for us. When you destroy a place we live, in a sense, you destroy it on both sides, because you take away the physical heart...”

Nix frowned. “What about all those ghosts that people see walking through walls where doors used to be?”

Gregg only shook his head. “Most of those are residual. I don’t want to end up like that; lost in a memory, nothing more than repetitive energy. Other times, it’s just because the places have been remodeled. Also, if you build back on top of it, it makes a weird… jumbled place. It’s hard to explain, you’d just have to be on our side to experience it.”

“Come down, we’ll talk some more.” Nix reached out his arm, offering his hand, palm side up, towards his friend in a comforting gesture. After a few long moments of careful contemplation, Gregg floated down the stairs towards him.

“I want you to see my side of it,” he said. “Would you like to?”

“Can I?”

“Yes, but I’ll need to sleep shortly after. I want you to see what hard work, from all of us, can do. I’ll give you the funds you need to restore this place, and to buy it. My great-great niece owns it now. She’s elderly, but back in the ‘80’s; she grew nostalgic for her roots and bought it again.”

“That’s good,” Nix said with a relieved sigh. “Hey, I thought you said you were an only child?”

“I was when I died. My parents had a daughter four years after I passed. She was a very late in life baby.”

Nix nodded his head, and then let out an explosive sigh as he gazed up at the ceiling. “Why didn’t she restore the place, or live here?”

“She lives in Hawaii, that’s where my parents went after they died. My mother always wanted to live there. And after she bought this place, she really didn’t have the money for the upkeep, just had it in her possession to keep the state from coming in and getting up to mischief.”

“Oh yeah, I know how that goes,” Nix agreed as he walked over to the fireplace. It wasn’t just boarded up; they had bricked it in some many years ago. “Okay, kiddo. Show me what this place is supposed to look like.”

Gregg gave his head one determined nod, and then walked over to Nix. He reached out, placing his hand on the strong shoulder and closed his eyes. “You know how it feels at night, when you’re just drifting off to sleep, and all of a sudden, if feels as if you’ve suddenly dropped ten feet?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, the good news is, you’ve felt this before.”

Before Nix could come up with a witty response, he did indeed feel that off-putting sensation, as if the floor had been removed beneath him at the same time as painless electricity coursed through his system. It was gone as soon as it came, but it was still disturbing. “Wow, do you guys feel that every time you pull a full body?”

Gregg chuckled. “No, because a full body isn’t the same thing as coming into your world, but to answer your question, yes, that’s what it feels like when we come over, when you’re able to touch us, where we feel as warm and as real as you do.” He fell quiet as he realized that Nix was no longer listening to him. “What do you think?”

“Whoa…” Nix said quietly. The house had taken on a massive transformation. Gregg had been right about the Victorian wallpaper, it was absolutely beautiful. The wood trim around the door facings, as well as the entire staircase was warm, rich and healthy. The fireplace boasted a fine marble mantle and matching hearth, and there was even a cheery fire burning within it. The windows were strong and clear and sunlight gave the place a warmth that tugged Nix’s heart with longing. The floors were hardwood, lighter than the accent pieces on the doors.

“Now do you understand?”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t know if I can bring it back exactly like this, but… I’ll do my best to bring it as close as I can.” He said in awe as he walked to the wall and touched it. He was fascinated with the discovering that with a little effort, he could rub their side away, like condensation on a window, and see his side. Then, like the moisture, it would fill back in.

“My father was quite the carpenter. That wasn’t his trade, but his hobby. He taught me a lot.”

“That’s good,” Nix said as he walked to the front door and pulled it open. The porch was inviting, painted a bright white to match the house with soft blue trim. The yard was open on this side and he was surprised that over the slight swell of hill in Gregg’s yard, he had no problem seeing the old Holmes mansion sitting far back on its own lot. “It looks so different without the trees,” he said, and then frowned when he heard a sharp squeal.

“What was that?” Gregg asked as he moved to stand next to Nix. They stood, shoulder to shoulder, at the door, peering out but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

“I heard something, sounded far away.”

“Maybe it’s on your side?”

“Maybe it was a bird?” Nix’s head jerked as the scream came again, echoing towards them as the sound of a struggle through heavy brush reached their ears. Brush that was no longer before them in the yard.

“Something’s wrong,” Gregg frowned. “I’m sending you back over,” he said as he gripped Nix’s shoulder. “Maybe you can find it on your side, I’ll look on mine.” Gregg closed his eyes as a wave of nausea passed through him, and then sagged against the wall as his energy level shot down. When he heard Nix bellow with rage, he opened them and pushed away, floating towards the porch steps to see what had caused his friend to let out such a deadly battle cry. Then he saw why; Jenn was being drug towards his house, fighting for her life as Lance strode towards them with purpose. He knew why it was different this time, not seeing the intruder with Jenn as he had been able to see Jade with Kevin. Jade and Kevin had both been living, Lance was able to put up his own defense, drawing Jenn in the middle of both worlds in an attempt to hide her from the dead on their side in hopes to accomplish his deed without interruption. It was lucky for Jenn that Lance was inexperienced and didn’t quite know how to fit perfectly between the worlds to attain his need for privacy so he could bring his foul deed to fruition.

“You…” Gregg said in disbelief. Lance came to an abrupt halt, his own shock at seeing Gregg causing him to forget the struggling child in his grasp. It was daytime and ghosts were supposed to be sleeping.

“You!” Lance called back in return. For a moment, there was panic until he realized that the dark haired youth hadn’t been the one who’d killed him and put him in this miserable place. “Get out of my way and let me pass! This isn’t any of your business.”

“Pull me back in, Gregg,” Nix said quietly.

“I’ll try,” Gregg whispered as he staggered towards Nix on legs that didn’t even feel up to the task of supporting his spectral body. Nix was already squared off and ready to fight as Jenn tried in vain to pry away the fingers that were holding her wrist in a vice-like grip.

“You think you can take me, boy? I’d love to see you try it,” Lance snarled as Gregg placed his hand upon Nix’s shoulder. It took everything the young spirit had to pull Nix in, and when the task was done, he collapsed bonelessly to the ground as a mean grin grew on Nix’s face.

“Yeah, I can take you, let her go and let’s do this.”

Lance looked down at the little girl, and then flung his arm, where she stumbled towards a large oak tree. She struck it face first and landed in a heap upon the tangled roots, blood pouring from her nose and a cut on her lip. That’s all it took for Nix, who suddenly sprang at the stranger like a wildcat on the hunt. He collided with Lance, sending him flailing backwards, and then lifted his arm to deliver a powerful blow to the man’s face. The satisfying crunch under his knuckles encouraged him; Nix lifted his arm again, and once more delivered a mighty blow, causing Lance’s head to snap back as he let out a cry of pain. While he was alive, the only people he had fought were those weaker than himself. Nix, he decided, was not weaker than he was. The fact that he had asked the ghost, without hesitation, to pull him over to this side should have been warning enough.

Darkness began to cloud Nix’s field of vision, it was something that had only happened a few times in his life, but he knew it for what it was; pure rage. He was about to go into his dark place as he pummeled the man in his grip. Nothing Lance could do or say at this horrible moment in time could stop Nix, either. His fury had awoken and it needed to feed. Everything came crashing in on Nix at that moment, from Jayce’s autism, to the abusive home he and Ade had endured while they were children, to the murder of his best friend. It poured out of his fist as if it were a painter’s brush and Lance’s face was the canvas stretched tight on the easel.

“Hey, brother, you fight just like I taught you to. Never pull the punches when you really mean it.”

That voice caused Nix to stagger and he lost hold of Lance, who was too injured to do more than grunt and make a feeble attempt to shield his face with his hands. He couldn’t understand why there was no blood or injury when the pain was just as real as if he had been alive. It didn’t matter, though, what mattered was that Sabaste had finally returned and now, he had saved him. Perhaps he wouldn’t get rid of him after all.

“Phantom?” Nix said as he staggered away from Lance to face his friend. Sabaste had grown tired of waiting in the basement, perhaps it was his sixth sense that told him trouble was near that had helped to oust him. Or perhaps he felt that it was just wise to move on with the cranky blond so close. Either way, he was now out of that house, Lance be damned. Sabaste didn’t care about him anyway; all he cared about was his need for revenge.

“You killed me, man,” Sabaste said slowly as he walked through the grass towards his old friend. “How could you do that, huh?”

“I didn’t kill you, man,” Nix said slowly, his face guarded as he watched the smaller man approach. “How could you even think that? You tried to kill me! You tried to burn me alive!”

“Then you tell me why you were the last face I saw!” Sabaste’s own face suddenly twisted into rage as he bellowed at Nix, who wanted to recoil from the voice, but held his ground. “You tell me that! You explain to me, why it was you that I saw before I got most of my head blown off!”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Phantom, but I didn’t kill you! I loved you man, you don’t hurt people you love!”

“That’s bull and you know it!” Sabaste countered back. He lifted his arm and pointed at Nix. “You always hurt the ones you love and you always hurt them the most. You know that as well as I do.” He began to circle Nix as he spoke, still pointing at him. For a while, they enjoyed a silent standoff until Nix spoke up.

“You know I loved you. Really loved you. How could I face life knowing my little brother is dead? How could I live being the one who pulled the trigger?”

“I don’t know,” Sabaste answered finally, his dark eyes glittering with a fiery intelligence that most people wouldn’t have accredited him for at first glance. Nix knew him better, knew how sharp his friend really was. “Maybe you didn’t love me like you said.”

“You know better than that.”

“Do I? Well, who’s dead, huh?” Sabaste’s voice was flat, as if he’d finally resigned to his fate.

“You are,” Nix answered quietly. “And I still love you, man.”

“You don’t know love!”

“You don’t know trust!” Nix fired back. He turned, looking for Jenn and spotting her where she crouched against a tree, holding her palm over her bleeding nose and split lip. “That’s who you hang out with?” Nix swung his hand towards Lance, who had decided that he’d had enough of Jenn for that day and had wisely put distance between them. “Someone who’d throw a child face first into a tree? What if that had been Jayce? And who knows what he had planned for her if I wasn’t here!”

“My little Hermano? He wouldn’t hurt him…” Sabaste looked over at Lance, and then cut his eyes back over to Nix, who was squatting in front of his niece so he could lift her into his arms.

“Sure he would, he only picks on those too weak to fight. I just can’t figure out why you haven’t come to your senses and seen for yourself what’s going on.” Nix held Jenn close to him as he rose. “I’m going home.”

“This isn’t over.”

“Yes, it is. She’s hurt.”

“No, this isn’t over!”

“I’d say it’s over,” Another voice spoke up from the road. While Nix felt a sudden surge of relief, Sabaste’s face broke out into an expression of shock and terror. The blond was coming at them, his fists balled at his sides.

“Billy… stop, listen to me,” Nix said as he put himself between the angry ghost and his friend. He realized that was a horrible mistake when Billy saw the bloody mess that was Jenn’s face, and rage erupted in his near black eyes like the sudden spout of lava from a volcano. Nix refused to move out of Billy’s path, however, until he had spoken his peace. “It wasn’t Phantom who did this,” he said softly.

“Get out of my side, I’ve got a mess to clean up,” Billy growled in a low voice. He grasped Nix by the shoulder and slung he and Jenn behind him as he walked towards Lance, effectively sending them back to their own world. The sudden jolt to his nerves from the pull back into the physical world caused Nix to lose his balance for a few uncertain steps, but he clung to his niece and miraculously kept them both from hitting the ground.

Jenn lifted her blood smeared face to peek over Nix’s shoulder, where she finally found her voice and cried out in a wavering tone. “Get him, Billy!”

*****

Kelly sat on her knees in the kitchen floor as she finished tending the cut on her daughter’s lip and chin while Nix stood by the counter, watching them with a stern and somber expression. Jenn felt safe near the floor, afraid to get into a chair lest she look up and see that bad man looming in one of the windows. Jade sat at the table, handing her mother items she needed to treat the wounds, too shocked to say anything other than murmur a soothing word to her sister here and again.

“We’re going to the ER,” Kelly said finally. “This cut on her face will at least need a few stitches. Who did this, Nick? Who hurt her? Why won’t she say anything?” Her voice wanted to break with the fear she felt for her child, but she knew she had to stay strong. She had to be their rock. “Jenn? Honey? Say something to Mommy, okay?”

“We’ve got a big problem,” Nix said. “It’s a long story, you’re not going to believe me, hell, if I were you, I wouldn’t believe me either, but I’m hoping to have some cooperation.” Nix lifted his face up to Billy, who leaned against the door facing and watched the family with the same expression Nix wore.

“Are you back into drugs again?” Kelly asked with a frown, and then turned to Jade. “Go get me one of her clean shirts, okay?”

“Okay,” Jade whispered as she rose from the table and headed to the laundry room.

“No, I’m not. You’ll think I am when I tell you what’s going on, but I swear to you that I’m clean.”

“Do you know who did this?”

“I do.”

“Then why are you standing there? Call the police and let’s have this person thrown under the jail so he can rot!”

“It’s not that easy.”

“He got away?”

“Yes and no.”

“Nick! Stop playing games with me! My child is hurt, she’s not speaking and you’re giving me some sort of run around about who did this! If you know who it is, then call the police so we can file a report, have him arrested and make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else’s child!”

“I can’t do that.”

“What do you mean you can’t do that? Why are you trying to protect this monster?” Kelly’s voice rose in her anger and despair until Nix put his hands out to soothe her.

“I’m not protecting him, and I can’t call the police to have a dead man arrested.”

“I… I don’t have time for this foolish talk,” Kelly said quietly as she turned to Jenn. “Not this ghost business. I know you’re going through a lot right now over the loss of your friend,” she grunted as she lifted Jenn into her arms and headed for the laundry room to change her into the shirt Jade found for her. When she returned, she snatched her purse off the table. “Jade, come with me, Nick, you’ll have to feed Jayce his supper. I don’t know what time we’ll be home. I’m calling the police when I get there, I want this monster tracked down and arrested.”

“Kelly, the police won’t find him, I told you, he’s dead.”

“And I told you that I am not listening to this nonsense!” Kelly exclaimed. Before she could sling her purse strap over her shoulder, Billy slowly materialized before her eyes. She let out a shriek and turned, her frightened mind telling her to go to the back door, but before she could take two steps, the apparition was there, blocking it. She watched with wide eyes as the tall blond slowly folded his arms over his chest and tossed his head with a bit of icy arrogance. Kelly backed up and clutched her child with a tight protective embrace as Jade let out a startled yelp and slammed the laundry room door.

“Is that the one who did it?! Did he come back to finish the job?” Kelly’s voice took on an hysterical tone as she moved back towards the door that led into the living room.

“No, Kelly, he’s not,” Nix said calmly. She let out another shriek as she backed into Billy, and then sprinted forward to stand next to Nix. “This is the one who came to our rescue. He lives here. This is his house.”

“He’s dead, he can’t live anywhere!”

“I know you hear him at night, I’ve seen you acknowledge noises he makes and then dismiss them, but I promise you, he’s a friend. You don’t have to be afraid,” he said over the low moan of fear Kelly was making.

“Good heavens woman, take her to the doctor, she’s still bleeding,” Billy said with a frown as Jayce toddled into the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. Kelly watched in open fear as the little boy lifted his face up, and then smiled brightly.

“Hi, Biddy.”

“Okay, I’m driving,” Nix said.

*****

As the family pulled out of the driveway, Billy kneeled next to Gregg’s prone body and pressed his hand against his back, giving him a shake. “Gregg, wake up. Come on, open your eyes,” he murmured softly. When he received no response, Billy gave the younger spirit another shake, harder this time. “Gregg!” he snapped.

With great force of will, Gregg opened his eyes, and then closed them when the world chose to come into double focus. “I can’t move,” he whispered. “Too weak.”

“You were foolish to pull that stunt, pulling Nix in like that,” Billy scolded as he sat Gregg up, and then took his arm and threw it over his shoulders. He rose, pulling his friend up with him so he could walk him back to the house. “Look what happened to you. Just foolish, you know better than that,” he spoke with a low voice, all was said and done now, there was no reason to yell.

“I just wanted to show him my house so he could fix it up good, that’s all,” Gregg slurred as he forced one foot before the other. “Show him what it looked like when I was still alive.” He didn’t have enough spectral energy to glide and Billy wouldn’t admit it, but yanking Nix back to his own side, and then giving Lance and Sabaste another beating had drained his own energy coffers as well. Billy remained quiet as he led Gregg through the door, and then up the stairs to the little room in the attic that Gregg used for his bedroom.