Chapter 20

Thunder cracked overhead like the sound of cannon fire, surprising Sabaste who was once again in the dark recess beneath the basement steps. He clamped his palm over his mouth to quieten the startled yelp that had tried to escape. It would be a bad thing indeed to be caught in this house right now because Billy was in a foul mood, which had flared back up when he attacked Lance at the road the night before. Sure enough, the loud scream was all it took to get Sabaste out of the main house and back in his hiding hole and this time, he had a nice souvenir; a pocket watch he found beneath Jade’s bed that still had Gregg’s energy signature on it. It was perfect and it gave him a plan to share with the older ghost once he was able to get into the house.

Sabaste had had a narrow escape that morning. Billy was stalking the house instead of going upstairs to get some rest, his anger growing deeper by the minute as he searched out his abode for the stranger he knew was there, but couldn’t find. Gregg had followed after him, pleading for him to calm down, that he was being irrational and not only frightening the family with his temper, but also Gregg himself. The plea fell on deaf ears and when he came down into the basement, Sabaste had pulled into the furthest corner in the dark recess that he could, putting his back against the wall next to the small doorway and holding still. His eyes were huge in his face when the door was flung open and when Billy peered in, he knew he was in for a beating. Fleeting seconds of hiding in the dark and then, the blond was gone, much to Sabaste’s shock.

He remained motionless as heavy booted feet went up the staircase, and then continued to remain still as he tried to see if it was a trap. He wanted to peer out to see if he was really alone, but he’d seen too many movies where the bad guy was waiting for his victim to give up their hiding place so they could pounce. Then he realized that had this been a movie, he’d actually be the bad guy.

Thinking back on that, Sabaste pulled out the watch. It was too dark to see, so he rubbed his thumb slowly over the face cover. It was an old piece and it great condition. He’d see, after Lance was finished doing what he had to do, if he could have it for himself.

*****

He ran as soon as he saw Billy approaching, screaming as if the devil were after him. Billy gave chase and actually got a punch in when he swung his arm, connecting his knuckles to the back of Lance’s skull. It had hurt, but with the storm approaching, he realized he could heal much more quickly than he had before. It gave him an ego boost and as he sat on the rock by the bridge, watching the dark heavy clouds roll in, he smiled serenely.

“Let’s see how you like it when the tables are even, tough guy. I don’t think you’re pulling energy, I think you’re wasting it trying to find the little rabbit hiding in his den,” he laughed softly. “Oh yes, Mr. Holmes, the fun you and I will have.” There was movement in the brush across the stream, which was already beginning to swell slightly from the rain north of the county. Lance’s cheerful demeanor fell as he lifted up a palm-sized stone. “Who’s there?”

A pair of warm brown eyes peeked out at him from between long blades of grass, a border collie, sleek black and white in color, watched him curiously. She was young and shy and he expressly remembered killing her. She had belonged to his fourth victim, and he had killed her in front of the little girl, before taking the child’s life after savoring her anguish over her dead pet.

“Get out of here!” Lance yelled. “Go on! Get out of here!”

When the dog remained where she was, he lifted his arm and chucked the stone at her, where it passed through her form. She flinched back, however, and then faded out of sight; the only evidence as she ran from the bank was the grass as it parted in her invisible path of flight.

*****

Jayce paused from playing with his cars long enough to greet his friend. “Hi, Biddy.”

“Hello, Jayce,” Billy answered as he stood in the middle of the living room. It was quiet for a Saturday afternoon; Kelly was across the road with Nix, securing the tarp on Gregg’s roof that had blown off with a heavy burst of rain the previous night. The girls were upstairs, Jade on her laptop and Jenn playing with her dollhouse. “Did they leave you alone down here?”

“Yuh.”

“Well, don’t get into trouble.”

“Kay.”

He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong. Something sinister right beneath his nose and it was like a low pulse of electric current running along his ethereal body, driving him mad. There was someone in his house; he knew it, but where? Billy lowered his head and studied the floor as he tried to think of where an intruder could hide. He had gone through every nook and cranny and still the house continued to warn him that someone was there.

“Jayce?”

“Uh?”

“Have you seen anyone… new here?”

“Nuh.”

“Are you sure?”

Jayce lifted his face and pinned Billy with the amber eyes of his father, uncle and cousins. He was quiet for a long moment before nodding his head.

“If you see somebody new, will you tell me?”

“Kay.”

“Say it.”

“Tell Biddy,” Jayce agreed.

“Good boy, Jay. Don’t eat your cars,” he said, and then floated towards the kitchen. He was so tired. For the past twenty-four hours, he had searched and stalked and listened intently for the intruder his spectral senses were screaming at him was there. He knew he wasn’t wrong, wasn’t imagining this, because even Gregg said he felt something was amiss. “Where are you?” he whispered as he pressed his hand against the wall. He was exhausted to the point where he couldn’t even recharge during this prime, opportune time. Anger began to well in him. He could be doing something fun; enjoying time with his best friend without the hindrance of having to rest, or could be aggravating his new family because of the limitless resource of energy around him. Instead, he had to spend it on the hunt and with his emotions into play, he knew his battery could only be recharged with time and rest. “Damnit… where are you?”

Sabaste lifted his head in the darkness and his hand clamped down hard on the watch. The soft question seemed to resonate throughout the old structure as if the skeletal framework itself had turned into a sort of ghostly PA system. He felt cold to his core at that haunting voice. He knows I’m hiding down here, man. Just get out, just leave. This is stupid to risk yourself being caught down here. His mind whispered to him. For the fourth or fifth time that day, the steps creaked beneath the tall blond’s weight as he came down the stairs. He had almost caught Sabaste that morning when he was searching the house in the form of energy, moving silently like a big cat stalking its prey. Billy may have been good, but in this instance, Sabaste knew he was a little bit better. He had lived on—and survived—hard streets Billy had never seen, and had learned the fine art of self-preservation. It was that skill that kept him in the basement undetected and it was that skill that was driving Billy nearly insane with the desire to find him, and much to his dismay, that was the beginning to his downfall. Instead of resting and tapping energy from the storm, he was wasting it instead on the hunt.

Sabaste pressed his back in the corner again, holding breath he didn’t need as he listened and waited. Again, the little access door swung open slowly and Billy’s head and shoulders came in, searching the darkness with his senses rather than his sight. Sabaste remained still, very still. If he still had a heartbeat, the sound alone would have given him away. After what seemed like hours, Billy let out a disgusted snort of frustration and pulled away, the little door slamming shut behind him. Sabaste smiled in the dark.

*****

“Do you really think you can get that place repaired?” Kelly asked as she climbed the front steps to her home slowly. The heat was still heavy and felt thick enough that she briefly envisioned folding it like a blanket. Sweat poured down the sides of her face and down her back.

“I can, it’s going to take a long time, but it’s got great bones,” Nix answered as he wiped his face with his bandana. “Let’s get inside; I can’t take much more of this humidity.”

“When are you going to buy the place?”

“I put in an offer on it Monday, I’m waiting to hear back. It was a pain just to find a real estate agent who even knew the house was there. The lady I’m working with now actually knew who to go look for, who in turn knew who to look for to tell us who owned the place. I think by the time this is over and done with, they’ll have me jumping through flaming hoops. For now, why don’t we keep this under our hats? I don’t want to tell Ade and get his hopes up, especially if this doesn’t go according to plan.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kelly agreed, letting out a soft sigh as a gust of cool, refreshing air engulfed them when he opened the door.

“Hey, Mom. Hey, Nikki,” Jade greeted them. “They say the storm’s stalled out, but is going to be here tomorrow night. Because of the stall, it’s actually gaining strength.” She was curled up on the couch with her crochet, working on a square to add to the large afghan she was making for her Dad’s favorite chair. Anything she could do to cover up the monstrosity.

“Good, maybe it’ll hurry up and get rid of this humidity. I think I lost ten pounds just being out there,” Kelly said as she shut the door behind her.

“Is there a big hole in the roof?” Jade asked.

“Yeah, and have your uncle tell you how he stuck his foot through one of the shingles and plunged his leg down nearly all the way through to the attic.”

“Oh man, you are okay, Uncle Nikki?”

“Yeah, didn’t hurt anything but my pride. And Gregg’s roof.”

“How did he take it?”

Nix and Kelly exchanged a glance. “Well,” Nix said, rubbing the back of his neck with his bandana again. “I’m not going to repeat what he called the last owners in polite company. Apparently, they’re the ones who let it fall to ruin.”

“I had no idea he had a mouth on him like that,” Kelly said softly. “For such a sweet young man, he could make a sailor blush.”

“Yowza,” Jade said, and then scoffed. “Well, look who he’s lived with for the past… however long they’ve been here.”

“Good point,” Kelly said. “I’m getting a shower and starting supper. How’s sandwiches sound to everyone?”

“Sounds good to me,” Jade said.

“Me, too. I’m going home to get cleaned up, I’ll be back soon. Love you, Jaybird, I’d hug you, but Daddy’s too hot and sweaty,” Nix said as he passed his son.

“Kay,” Jayce said.

“Hey!” Nix called as he stepped out the back door. Billy was standing in the backyard, the wind lifting his blond hair like a curtain and whipping it to the side. “Why aren’t you getting some rest? You’ve been up for nearly a day straight.”

“Someone’s here!” Billy yelled as he turned his anger filled face to Nix. Nix lifted his hands in a placating manner as he approached his friend.

“Take it easy,” he said in a soothing tone. “Maybe it’s this storm that’s causing you some anxiety. Why don’t you come in and—“

“Stop ordering me around!” Billy yelled. “Someone is here, I can feel it! You aren’t dead, you aren’t attached to this house, you don’t understand!” his voice rivaled the deep grumble of thunder overhead.

“Come on inside,” Nix said, still using a soothing tone. He was finally growing used to Billy’s tantrums and had learned if you just remained calm, they, like the storm coming in, would eventually pass.

Billy lowered his head, his fists balled at his sides. He was so tired but he couldn’t just lie down and sleep. Not when there was a potential threat that he couldn’t find. “I can’t rest. Not yet,” he spoke in a quiet tone.

“How about this,” Nix offered. “You lie down and rest on the couch in the living room and we’ll keep watch, in case there’s something going on we don’t know about. If something happens, we’ll wake you up and free the beast. How’s that?”

“Where’s Gregg?”

“Getting a few more things out of the attic. I stepped through the roof. Man, did you teach him some of those phrases? He had Kelly as red as a beet!”

Billy lifted his head and gazed at Nix for a long moment, a forlorn expression crossing his fair face. “This isn’t good. Gregg doesn’t lose his temper unless there’s something wrong.”

“Come on inside; let’s talk about it while I take a shower. I’m hot and sweaty and funky and I just want to get clean. And now, you’ve got me worried with that little bit of news.”

“How do you think I feel?” Billy frowned deeply. “This is why I don’t allow people to stay here! What if I can’t protect you, huh? It’s too much! Too much to have to worry about something happening to one of you!”

“Just calm down and take it easy,” Nix said as he stood in front of his friend. “In case you’ve failed to notice, none of us are little weaklings who faint at the first sign of trouble. We’ll be fine… whatever it is that you’re sensing, whatever dread you’re feeling, all I have to say to it is bring it on.” Nix reached out and put his hand on Billy’s shoulder. “Is that what’s wrong? Do you feel like you’re all alone in trying to protect us?”

Billy turned his head away quickly, but in the smallest instant, Nix saw a tear forming in his left eye. He gave the shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You’re exhausted and you can’t protect us if you have no energy to go on. Come on, keep me company while I get cleaned up, and then we’ll go back to your house where you can rest. We’ll watch over you. For once, Billy, it’s okay to let your guard down. Even if something unforetold happens… so what? It happens.”

“The children…”

“I’ll fight to the death for them all,” Nix said quietly, and then grinned. “Then, I’m all yours.”

Billy scowled. “Great, just what I need. You. Here. Constantly.”

“Hey, you already got that, pal,” Nix chuckled as he patted Billy’s chest. “Come on, let’s get out of this humid misery.”

*****

There was a brief knock before the front door eased open, and then Gregg came into the house holding a box of books. He went up the stairs slowly without speaking to anyone. Jade was sitting perched on the arm of the couch, her face turned towards the archway before she rose and walked towards the staircase. “Hey, wait up,” she said softly. Gregg paused, keeping his back to her as she moved quietly up the stairs behind him. He knew word had gotten back to the family after his little tantrum and felt ashamed of his vulgar outburst. When she reached his side, he finally turned his head to gaze at her, and when he saw her smile at him, his face relaxed and he returned it warmly. Together, they walked up the stairs while Gregg told her the selection he had brought over just for her to go through and read. Kelly watched them, and then sighed softly. “This family wouldn’t know how to be normal, would it?”

“Nope,” Nix said. “Not even if you got us a book on how to be.” He was sitting on the end of the couch, with Billy sprawled out next to him on his side and using Nix’s right thigh as a pillow. Nix finished his sandwich while they watched storm footage from an area fifty miles away, showing the damage this particular storm was wreaking while it made its way towards them.

“I’m really worried about this,” Kelly murmured quietly. Jade had already woken the cranky ghost when she and Jenn had erupted into a loud squabble and they had spent the following fifteen minutes cleaning up the mess from his tantrum.

“I think we’ll be okay,” Nix said as he placed his hand on his friends’ ribcage, and then gave it a gentle pat. Billy was out hard now, sleeping heavily and pulling energy from Nix. It tickled, that pull, but he didn’t seem to feel any adverse effect from it. No weakness or dizziness, just a steady tug as if his energy were being sipped. He didn’t mind, after all, Billy had saved his life twice.

“Look at those houses, there’s hardly anything left,” Kelly pointed out.

“Yes, but you have to remember; this house has been here quite a long time,” Nix assured her as he stroked the soft blond hair. It felt like liquid silk and he marveled at how much thicker it was than it looked as he trailed it through his fingers.

“Would you please stop petting him like a cat?”

“I can’t help it, you should feel his hair. It’s amazing,” Nix whispered. “Want to feel?”

“No, my luck I’d wake him up and spend the next half hour cleaning another tantrum induced mess,” Kelly whispered.

“He’s got spirit.”

“You can say that again,” Kelly sighed. “So… what makes you think this house can stand that kind of storm?”

“Gregg told me that there’s been at least two that bad and one even worse, that’s come through here in the past two hundred years. He said both houses were built like tanks, not like the ones we have today. And I agree with him, I’ve been through both, looked through them inside and out. I think if there’s any damage, it’ll be cosmetic, but I really don’t think we’ll have any structural problems to worry about.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I hope I am, too. But… just to be safe, if it gets bad, we’ll head down to the basement. In fact, before we get ready for bed, maybe we should go ahead and set up some cots down there. It’s clean as a whistle, not even a cobweb. I know that’ll put the girls’ minds at ease.”

“And mine,” Kelly chuckled softly. “That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can haul the TV down with us. You could hook the generator up outside and secure it next to the house so we can have power if the lights go out, and maybe we could drag that mini fridge of yours over, too?”

“I think we could do that,” Nix agreed as he kicked his bare feet onto the ottoman and shifted to get comfortable.

“Is he wearing you out?”

“A little bit, one of my butt cheeks went a little bit numb there,” Nix said as he pulled Billy’s heavy bangs back, and then released them. “He’s nice when he’s asleep.”

“I know. Let’s let him sleep for as long as we can. I just got used to him, but that grouchy attitude is just more than I can take.”

“He feels something’s in the house. It’s driving him crazy that he can’t find it.”

“Is that why he’s been going non-stop for the past day?”

“Yeah,” Nix whispered. “Something’s got him on edge.”

*****

Storms were erupting along the main path of the big one, sending down rain and a spattering of hail here and there. Lightning struck one of the old dead trees in the back field, sending it to erupt in a bright flash of sparks and a giant explosion. Rain fell in sheets, quickly putting out the old smoldering trunk and wind whipped along the large house, causing it to shriek around the eaves. Lance was halfway through the culvert, moving slowly as to not be detected, when lightning brought down the old tree. When he found the courage to pop his head out, he realized that there was no reason to be afraid. There was no silhouette of the tall ghost standing on the front porch, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be at the back. As he could see it, the house was facing him at an angle, leaving too much of the backyard hidden for his taste.

“Don’t matter, I got you now,” Lance said as he rose and began to walk towards the home. “You are going to pay for what you did to me, what you caused me to lose. I’m going to enjoy humiliating you in front of your friends.” He laughed softly as a curtain of rain suddenly exploded around him.