Coalescence (Camden Investigations Book 1) (7 page)

“We’ll work this all out. I think a Smartphone for a
smart girl is definitely justified.”

She smiled and waved a hand toward the floor as if she
wanted to dismiss her previous rant. “Sounds good.” If she could only have part
of one parent, she would rather have that than nothing.

“I’ll see you soon.” Dan started to maneuver out the
door, but stopped. “And Iris, good luck with this new man but just remember,
there are no little green men.”

Iris nodded and waited for him to shut the door. Then she
mumbled to no one in particular. “And if that’s the case, then the only thing I
would be guilty of is wasting is my time, wouldn’t it?”

D
AN CHECKED
messages on Iris’s old phone before heading
into the store.

Iris, got some good news, just found a lab to inspect the
plants at last night’s scene. The guys are busy researching the meaning of the
caduceus symbol. Let’s talk about the next step of your “ghost”
investigation . . .

The text was from Mitchell. He had to be the UFO Guy. Dan
pursed his lips and exited his vehicle. As he crossed the store’s parking lot,
he reasoned his daughter probably wasn’t actually doing anything more than
engaging in some dating foreplay with her suitor. It was highly doubtful any
investigation of a crop circle would lead to anything substantial. They never
did. But Dan was intrigued by the reports of the lighted balls or what he knew
to be OBOLs. The
Organization
would love to get a hold of one of those
babies. He recalled a colleague joking that they probably held the secrets of
humankind’s origins. Dan didn’t believe the colleague was joking then. He didn’t
believe the elusive OBOLs were anything less substantial now. Moments later, he
greeted the counter clerk with a big smile.

“Can you help assist me in activating my daughter’s new
phone? I’m afraid I just don’t know much about technology.”

“That’s okay,” the young attendant said with a smile.
“I’d be glad to assist.”

Even with his psychic gift inhibited, Dan Camden knew the
clerk believed him 100 percent. To her, he was just another technically
challenged father hoping a material gadget would bring him a bit closer to his
family. In a way, the clerk was partially right.

DJ
SLINKED
into the house as normal. She didn’t want to
raise any suspicions with Iris. She hung up her coat on the rack and trudged
upstairs. Just another day at work . . . decorating cakes. She
knew the cake decoration wasn’t important; it was what the thought meant to
recipients. Why couldn’t these people just come out and say they loved without
forcing you to eat lard and a ton of sugar?

Her outward appearance concealed the teeming emotions
within her. At least DJ hoped they did. She couldn’t let Iris know her
matchmaking might be successful. It was just pride talking, she knew that. But
she didn’t want her sister running her life. Once she hooked her up, who knew
what else Iris might have in store for her? That’s why she avoided conversation
with her elder sister at all costs. She still could be found out via psychic
means. In fact, she knew all about Dad’s visit just from her psychic tether to
Iris. She just hoped her feelings didn’t translate as easily as thoughts
concerning her telepathic networking.

DJ believed her initial meeting with Darian had been
momentous. He wasn’t just someone who was outwardly attractive or a soul who
seemed to understand what she was all about. He also was an investigator at
heart. DJ didn’t want to let on that investigating was what she wanted to do.
It hurt her to leave it. She was reminded of this last night. When the crop
circle was discovered, she felt her heart was going to leap out of her chest. She
hadn’t agreed to go out on an investigation, at least not yet. But the tug was
there and this wasn’t even a haunting. It was just the thrill of a new
discovery. DJ had come to realize in the past few months that investigation and
discovery could only rival her love for public speaking and debate. She was
back on track to getting her life together, but it was a slow process.

So how could she get back in the game quicker, so to
speak? If she opened herself up as a medium, she would be vulnerable to
visitations from her mother at all times of day. Still, to work with someone
like Darian was enticing. Maybe she could stand a few more visits from
Mom . . .

As if Doris had heard her child, her mother appeared as a
wispy apparition before morphing into a solid form. In this interim, DJ balled
her fist in rage. She had invited this. She shouldn’t be mad. She just had to
reason with her mother. That was easier said than done.

Her mother stood before her, arms folded. “I can be just
as stubborn. I know you’ve tried to block me. But I’m here for your own good,
DJ.
”

DJ didn’t fail to notice how her mother accentuated her
new name in a mocking tone. It was a reminder of the cold, hard fact that
changing her name had little to do with changing her circumstance.

So how do we all just get along—if you refuse to
leave?
DJ pondered.

She decided to play along with her mother. “Is there
something I can help you with, Mom? I’ve come to realize I’ve been selfish. If
you’re still visiting me, there must be something you need. So, how about
telling me what that is, and then you can move on with
your . . . uh, existence.”

“Ah, psychology, or wait, is that philosophy you’re
trying on me? In any event, you will make a great orator. So, one reason I am
here is to keep you remindful of that. I also need to encourage you to continue
on with another part of your life.”

DJ frowned. How could her mother have heard her thoughts?
Was this what the dead did? Spy on loved ones . . . or, could it
be . . .?

“Okay, I have been considering that. But this is supposed
to be about you, not me. It’s obvious you want us to remain together. But there
must be something else you need from me? Something that might help you resolve
your past? Is there anything I can tell Dad? He was just here today, visiting
Iris . . .”

“What I need is bigger than the both of us, DJ. I need
you to help your sister. Go visit that ghost and find out what that object is.
I have a premonition it has substantial importance.”

“How is that? You were never psychic? Why are you getting
premonitions
now?”

“I don’t think the how is important. You need to find out
the
why.
Why did that boy find that object? There is a reason—I’m
sure of it. Besides, I’m not visiting you for sentimental reasons. I know I can
help you, that is why I am still here. I had a paranormal connection so to
speak before I met your father. I told Dan one day, and he just accepted it
like I was telling him it was going to rain. I know he hid many secrets from
us. But, in my death, I realize I withheld a vital piece of information from
you and Iris.”

DJ thought about her dad. Was her mother’s premonition
manufactured from something in reality? Or, was her mother simply crazy. What
the hell was she referring to by paranormal experience? Because Dad supposedly
dealt in secret technologies, was this the reason why her mother felt this dial
might actually be something other than a toy?

“Okay, Mom. I can
see
you’re not going away until
I act. Consequently, I will consider helping my sister’s investigation if you
help me. What do you mean by paranormal experience?”

“I met a man before your father. When I interacted with
him . . .”

“You mean had sex with him, Mom.”

“Yes, when I had relations with him. I felt changed on
the inside. I started to think of things I never had reason to think about. I
saw images of these strange people who couldn’t have been from this earth. I
thought I was crazy until I finally realized what your father was up to all
these years in the desert. There is intelligent life out there. And a part of
it is undoubtedly scary but another part isn’t. And I loved this man. Because I
had interactions with him, I believe you were affected by him too when I got
pregnant by your father. So don’t worry, Dan is your dad. But also know you may
have some special attributes I just can’t account for but know are there. I
think these attributes will be important in your investigation. I don’t know
how yet. I just do.”

DJ waited for her mother to explain, but she disappeared,
as if she were afraid DJ was going to rebel at the news. She was going to
bargain for her mother to leave her alone—for good. But now that her
mother had just dropped a bombshell, she would reconsider. Just what the hell
did she mean by special attributes?

DJ grumbled and turned on her laptop. Maybe there would
be some more news about the crop circles. Then she might have a sensible reason
to phone Darian.

As she perused a
story, her mind wandered. She couldn’t concentrate. DJ was too upset about her
parents. Out of the blue, Dad had visited Iris warning her to stay out of any
alien investigations, then her mother had morphed from the ether of space,
encouraging her to aid in a case that appeared to possess an extraterrestrial
slant. Talk about a family divided.
And apparently not even death will ever
change that fact.

D
RIVING
ALWAYS
helped DJ think. Deciding
to become an investigator again, DJ couldn’t help but feel a wave of
uncertainty. She had told herself on countless sleepless occasions that
distancing herself from her psychic gift might put her back on her career
track. Yet, being a medium satisfied a deep-seated passion for discovery. No
matter how successful she might become in the political arena, where her gift
of speech might be rewarded with a senator’s seat, would it ever fulfill her
need to try and answer the unanswerable? Or what some might label the really
big questions humankind had been asking for millennia?

DJ had had enough of struggling with the dilemma. Her
mother was encouraging. Her father was not. Despite what her mother had just
revealed, her father acted as if her mother’s relations with another man,
perhaps another being, were inconsequential. She wondered if she should try to
talk to her father about this. But how would she approach it? It wasn’t like
this mystery man was her father. Still, his biological essence had possibly had
an impact on her. She still didn’t know exactly what her ghost mom was talking
about. She hadn’t had any visions of strange beings from other worlds. How
could this impact her? Could this mystery man really have changed her mother’s
genetic makeup, which, in turn, changed her? Talk about a paranormal romance!
DJ wasn’t even the man’s biological offspring, yet it was almost as if she
were. DJ balled a fist and vowed she would block further thoughts about her
parents and their “relations” from her mind. She would think about more
pleasant things. This pleasant thing in particular had a name spelled with six
letters.

Meeting Darian made her realize she wanted to become a
ghost hunter again. His appeal went beyond emotional or physical attraction. He
made her realize she wanted to choose the path less ordinary, despite the
consequences: namely isolation. But if she didn’t feel isolated, she wouldn’t
be capable of feeling special. Part of feeling special was the realization you
were only one of a handful of people privy to the otherworldly information
gleaned by other paranormal investigators. It was painful, but DJ had to admit
her sole reason for quitting the ghost hunting team was her mother’s death. She
had never felt her gift had interfered with thoughts of continuing her
education before. It was the sheer pain of her mother’s parting that made her
despise what her gift could do. Before, talking with ghosts had never been
personalized. She would never be certain last night’s choice to willingly talk
to the dead again would be correct. But at least she no longer let uncertainty
keep her on a fence.

DJ
was
certain of how her ghost and UFO hunting
peers felt. Attempts to mask their elation with somber faces had been
unsuccessful. She realized how excited the teams were to have her assistance.
She could read Iris best. Her older sister was glad she might provide her
client a means to return to their home. But she suspected Kassidy and Rachel
were quite curious to discover what the apparition’s connection to the strange
occurrences might be. She knew Mitchell and his team were most concerned with
finding intel about the object. Still, with all these voices and their
motivations shifting about her consciousness, DJ wanted to approach the ghost
with an unbiased mind. That was easier said than done.

Darian embraced her in a half-hug as she crossed the
threshold into the Morses’ house. It was clear to her, and the rest of the
team, that an emotional bond had been established between them. In most cases,
investigative teams would frown upon personal involvements. But DJ could sense
the teams understood she was extremely impacted by her car accident. Any
attempts to discourage future personal distractions would be quite
unsuccessful, if not cruel.

Iris nodded to Darian after the young man disengaged his
embrace. DJ sensed her sister was fully supportive of their union. She could
also detect her sister’s attempt to alleviate Darian’s worries with just a mere
look. DJ was well aware how hard non-verbal communication between humans could
be. She’d watched her family dissolve because of this. If her whole family had
been psychic maybe they could have surmounted their differences.

As DJ mounted the stairway, she kept telling herself this
was who she was, for better or for worse, she was a medium. She also might be
something more if her ghost mother was correct. She heard mumbling behind her.
No doubt they were reviewing protocols. Mitchell and his newly arrived friend, Evan,
would hold down fort in the home’s foyer along with Iris. The rest of the teams
would wait outside the home, hoping to evoke a sense of respect and peace for
the ghost.

Iris had instilled the notion in everybody’s
heads—quite a few times during her commute—that peace was
paramount. She had not encouraged her sister to aid the team’s investigation
only to be injured by floating shampoo bottles. DJ failed to suppress a laugh
upon that announcement, sparking a cathartic release of pent up energy from
Kassidy and Rachel. DJ understood she was to flee the home at the first sign of
poltergeist activity. Yet DJ couldn’t shake the absurd image of a shampoo
product being manipulated as a weapon.

To break the ice, DJ couldn’t resist making that her
first inquisition.

“So, of all things, why throw shampoo at people? We were
here before, as we are here now, to learn who you are and why you’re here. So
please speak freely to me. I can hear you. My friends cannot. But we are all
here in peace. There is no need to try and dispel us with projectiles.”

DJ glanced to her left and right, noting bedrooms at
either end of the hallways and a bath straight ahead. Now the oddness of what
Iris’s video had captured hit home with resonance. How could the camcorder have
taped rooms that didn’t exist in this location? The thought of the object crept
along in the recesses of her mind as if it were a spider, but DJ didn’t want to
put words in the spirit’s mouth.

DJ tapped a foot on the floor to combat her anxiety. Yet
the medium was fully aware such body language would leave the spirit little
doubt how scared she was.
Stop it!

The ghost, now tapped into DJ’s consciousness, answered
in annoyed confusion.
“Stop what? I thought you said you were to converse.”

DJ straightened her posture. “
Yes, that’s correct. We
are here to converse. Will you allow me ask some questions? We just want to
understand your visitation.”

“Ah, yes. You humans are so territorial. Well, we are as
well. But it’s different in my world. No matter. I understand I am intruding. I
don’t want this to continue for any longer than necessary. If I allow you to
ask me questions, will you consider helping me?”

DJ winced. This wasn’t part of protocol. She could almost
hear Iris screaming in her ear right now. “
Certainly, I suppose it is only
fair.”
Now DJ wondered if this was how diplomats felt. She doubted it. When
diplomats spoke to potential enemies they still had beating hearts.

“I am glad you consider this fair. I have found many of
your kind to be unreasonable. Yet you need my assistance.
You . . . have always needed assistance. But today, instead of
providing it in a shroud of secrecy, I must be forthright. Time is of the
essence. I no longer have the physical capability of completing my task.
Therefore, I must request your aid.”

DJ nodded. “
That sounds all well and fine. But let
just confirm. You are . . . dead?”

DJ could almost feel the ghost’s wrath.
“Of course I
am. Weren’t you listening? I am no longer physically capable. I must request
your assistance.”

DJ interrupted. “
But if you are dead and you are from
another . . . world . . .
then . . . Sorry, I’m just trying to comprehend, to categorize
you.”

“Finish your thought, child. I am therefore an ‘alien’
ghost. Does that satisfy your need to categorize?”

DJ sensed she could trust the ghost. It was so forthright
and angry. She didn’t feel it was duplicitous. Yet she needed to hear it say in
its own words what exactly had transpired just a few days ago. “
Can you tell
me why my friends were greeted with such wrath? You said you wanted their
assistance, yet you chased them away. Why did you do that?”

The ghost unleashed a string of unpronounceable
consonants and vowels. DJ was certain it was curse words.

“I did not act to harm your friends in any manner. It was
the artifact. It possesses what you would consider to be supernatural
abilities. I believe it was in close proximity to another otherworldly
presence. This other presence, which exists in light form, has baffled us for
centuries. It acts as a guiding light, or even a guardian angel, yet these
lights never reveal themselves. In any event, these balls of light can cause
strange things to occur when they interact with other beings and other things.
In fact, I am certain of their interaction. In tandem, a time slip occurred.”

DJ ran a hand through her hair. “
So what you’re saying
is that no one actually threw the shower products at my friends. That possibly
our notion of time was interrupted. If so, why did you allow this to
happen—if you wanted our assistance?”

“I could not stop it from doing what it wished, including
throwing objects at your sister and her friends. But I did hope an event would
occur to encourage the removal of the artifact from the home. It is dangerous.
I would suggest you contain it—away from humans.”

“We have.”

“Good.”

“Now can you tell us where the artifact originated?”

“It has many origins. I don’t think that’s your true
question anyway. I can confirm it came from a disabled satellite. I witnessed
the event but was powerless to assist. I know a boy retrieved the artifact and
brought it to this residence. That is why I’m here.”

“And is that the reason why you’re ‘here’ in our world?”
DJ eyes scanned both bedrooms and the bath. So
far, she was speaking to a disembodied voice. She had to wonder if this being
was somehow a relative if what her mother had said was true. Maybe that was why
it allowed a discussion. As weird as her mother’s revelation sounded, DJ began
to consider her DNA was not entirely human.

“I am here as a protector. I installed the artifact into
the satellite to shield your atmosphere from attack. It is very important you
understand my benevolence. You must trust me and take this artifact to a place
where it can again shield your planet from harm. A very desperate race wants to
utilize both your people and your resources.”

DJ felt as if her mind were backpedaling. The ghost had
answered so many questions yet raised so many more. Why weren’t these aliens in
the process of harming the earth right now? If the shield was down, what was
preventing their attack . . . and, come to think of it, what was
their means of attack? She could just picture the look on Iris’s face. The
skeptic in Iris wouldn’t even be having a conversation with this spirit right
now. There was no way her half sister believed in aliens. She marveled at the
irony. Iris didn’t believe in aliens, but what if she was one herself? All of
her previous existence could very well be a lie. All this time, she and her
sister had been investigating the paranormal with blinders on. DJ still believed
Iris only called in to Mitch to eliminate the alien angle. DJ believed she’d
always felt the same about aliens, up until today. For some reason, what the
ghost was telling her didn’t feel like a lie. She had spoken to ghosts in the
past that had lied to claim their innocence in life. It was entirely possible
for a ghost to attempt deceit. But DJ couldn’t fathom why she felt a certain
way about this ghost anymore than she had felt
Darian to be a kindred
soul. Being a medium meant you had to be a good judge of character. Answers
didn’t just spell themselves out. The gift connected her with the dead, but the
dead could be just as ambiguous as the living.

Overwhelmed, DJ began to experience dizziness. It was the
same kind of motion sickness she experienced traveling in the backseat of a car
as a child or from drinking one too many of Kassidy’s mixed drinks. She spilled
to her knees. And then images blinded her. As if she were standing inches
before a projector, a series of visions bombarded her senses. Experiences with
the dead were always draining, but this one extraordinarily taxing.

Neat rows of men, walking in uniform lines, march down a
deserted street much like ones she had seen depicted in movies, only they
aren’t really men. They are just opaque forms. They consist of all the colors
of the rainbow and are transparent except for their booted feet, gloved hands,
and helmeted heads. The street is very normal except for the beings walking on
it.

At a podium, a being in full black garb addresses a
throng of followers. They cheer at his every pause. She cannot understand what
he is saying because it is either a foreign or alien language. But she feels
this being is diametrically opposite his followers. He is solid, and they are
opaque.

A small ship that looks like it came from a science
fiction movie lifts off a boost pad. Thousands of beings watch on deserted
streets with tears in their eyes. They have mixed feelings: hope and despair,
conquest and civility, right and wrong.