Designed with a Destiny (22 page)

“Charles Harrington we have gathered here
today in hope that you will join us. Please know that you are
welcome and give us a sign that you’re present with us now,” Liz
says calmly. Seconds go by, and nothing happens so she repeats the
invitation, this time a little more persistently, letting him know
that his son Zane requests his appearance to settle unfinished
business. Almost immediately the temperature in the room drops, and
all of us instinctively scan the room for additional forms of
energy. I’m the first to spot the dense gray mass hovering near
Elizabeth, but when I point it out to the others telepathically,
the only other person able to see it is Claire. Liz acknowledges
its presence and thanks Mr. Harrington for returning to the
physical world. She begins by asking a simple yes or no question,
instructing him to respond by tapping once for yes and twice for
no.

“Did you commit suicide?” she asks. The two
distinct thuds that follow sound like someone pounding their fist
on the wall.

“Were you murdered?” The door at the top of
the stairs slams shut with such force it causes the shelves on
Ken’s work bench to rattle. The gray mass of energy moves in a
counter-clockwise direction, from Zane to Natalie, then to Austin
who mentally verbalizes
“Creepy,”
having enough sense to not
say it out loud. The mass is like a dog trying to pick up a scent,
and I grip Claire’s hand tighter when it moves over her next. She
shivers involuntarily, and I understand the reason when it shifts
from her to me. It feels like I’ve taken a plunge in an ice cold
lake and the heaviness that accompanies it is the anchor pulling me
to the bottom.
Love, peace, and harmony,
I silently repeat,
using the memory of my earlier experience with Ronan to counteract
the effects just as Lawrence instructed us to do. Ronan must do the
same because it quickly passes over him and hovers over Lawrence,
the one with a naturally lower vibrational frequency, where it
remains until Elizabeth asks another question.

“Do you know where Chord and his parents are
being kept?” I hold my breath, praying for a positive answer and we
get it in the form of a single loud bang from the upstairs door.
Ronan gives my hand an encouraging little squeeze. Now we just had
to get Mr. Harrington to tell us where, not an easy task when
questions are presented in a yes or no format.

“I invite you to inhabit my body now so that
you may use my vocal cords in exchange for information about who
has Chord and our other family members,” she blurts out so fast
that nobody has a chance to stop her. I gasp in horror. The minute
the words leave her mouth she arches her back, casting her face
toward the ceiling as she sucks in a deep breath through clenched
teeth, making a low hissing sound. Zane and Lawrence both jerk
their hands from hers, shaking and blowing on their fingers like
they had just touched a hot stove. Instantly the room is filled
with spirits or energies that have one thing in common—they all
color screen gray. Her invitation has unwittingly opened a doorway
for a small army of negative spirits to enter through. For the
first time I wish they were as invisible to Claire and me as they
are to everyone else because they’re nothing short of
terrifying.

“Please tell me where Chord and his parents
are being held,” Zane appeals to the spirit of his late father,
looking directly at Elizabeth. Her body begins to tremble, then in
a low, gravelly voice she begins speaking in the same Arabic
dialect I’ve heard both the Harringtons use. As soon as Zane lets
go of Natalie’s hand to take down notes, several of the spirits
descend on top of him and he lets out a blood curdling scream that
makes the hair on my arms stand up. Elizabeth tosses her head back
and cackles loudly. Natalie makes several attempts to reestablish
the connection between the two, but each time she touches his arm,
there’s a buzzing sound, and they both jerk away in pain. The smell
of burning flesh fills the room and Lawrence begins to cough
violently. Zane, being the only one not connected to our energy is
completely unprotected and at the mercy of the demonic spirits. I
am left with no option but to do exactly what Lawrence warned
against, break out of the circle to help.

“
Grab Claire’s hand!”
I order Ronan,
while influencing him to let go of his death grip on mine. He has
no choice but to obey.

“
Cat—no!”
he hisses. The entities
that have surrounded Zane are relentless in their attack on his
body, and the fact that they don’t readily attack me as I crawl
closer gives me a boost of much needed confidence.

“
Focus your energy through your
hands,”
Lawrence’s calm voice mentally coaches me and I hold my
hands out in front of me, releasing a weak stream of white energy
directed at Zane, enough to cause the gray cloud to disperse. Once
the individual spirits are separated from each other, it’s easier
to pick them off, one at a time, simply by surrounding them with a
current of white particles that flows heavier as my confidence
rises.
“A faster, higher vibration always wins Cat—don’t let
fear lower your vibration,”
Lawrence continues to empower me,
and when I’ve eliminated all but a few, I finally catch a glimpse
of Zane’s face. Our eyes lock and the look of terror and pain I see
reflected in them makes me question whether or not we should
continue. If I could switch places with him I would, but he’s the
only one able to translate the messages from his dad. To my relief
I don’t have to beg him to continue, he picks up the pen and with a
shaky hand, begins taking notes again, conversing back and forth
with his father while I faithfully stand guard.

Its eerie watching Liz’s face contort with
hatred and anger as Mr. Harrington’s spirit uses her body to
express himself through. Her voice is two octaves lower than normal
and every once in a while she shakes her head violently, and
releases a string of profanity that lasts until an unwavering Zane
can redirect him to the questions on hand. I slowly inch my way in
between Natalie and him, grabbing her hand and his arm to reconnect
the circuit of energy. From out of nowhere negative entities
reappear in the room, hovering near the ceiling, just out of reach
from my protective ray of energy. I was naïve in thinking that
disincarnate beings would be so easily dissuaded.

“They’re back,” I warn. Zane’s body stiffens
and his speech flows faster as he probes his father for last minute
information. I glance over at Ronan who’s watching me carefully.
His golden eyes flicker like the flames on the candle and he
follows my eyes toward the ceiling. He may not be able to see the
entities but I know he can feel their presence.

“Let’s end this now,” Lawrence says quietly,
taking matters into his own hand. “Mr. Harrington we want to thank
you for joining us today, and ask now that you depart from
Elizabeth Kappel’s body.” Without warning, a petri dish is launched
from the shelves behind us, hitting Lawrence squarely in the head
with enough force that he’s temporarily knocked unconscious, and a
stream of blood oozes down his forehead. Natalie screams, and
Austin lets go of the hands on either side of him to shield his
head from airborne frogs being catapulted out of their containers.
Liz’s body twists and rises above the floor, then she arches her
back until her head is almost touching her heels. Her body is
slammed back down on the floor, her leg snaps beneath her like a
branch from a tree.

“No!” Claire screams, breaking loose from
Ronan to come to Liz's aid. As soon as she places a hand on Liz’s
body, a cloud of gray is expelled and she forces it away from the
two of them with a steady stream of white energy radiating out of
the palm of her hand. Elizabeth is back in control of her own body
but her cries of anguish send Zane scrambling to her side. “Dear
god, what’ve we done?” I think out loud. The stench of burning
flesh is even stronger now, and I’m vaguely aware of Natalie making
gagging noises.

“
Remember who you are,”
Lawrence
mentally reminds me as he struggles to sit up, and in the midst of
the chaos something clicks. The fear slowly subsides, and I stand
up watching the advancing gray entities retreat toward the ceiling.
Ronan immediately comes to my side and when he grabs my hand, the
flow of energy out of my other is doubled, easily reaching the
ceiling. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Natalie joining in
next to Ronan and the surge of energy coursing through my arm is
tripled. There’s nowhere in the room that the beam of white energy
can’t reach now, and I release it freely in a sweeping motion,
hitting every single gray mass in sight.

“You are no longer welcome, you must leave
immediately,” I command, in a voice that sounds oddly in
control.

“Behind the microscope,” Claire points to a
lingering spirit, but it disappears before my energy particles
reach it.

“Cat, we need your help—I think it’s broke,”
Zane says worriedly, trying to comfort Liz who’s weeping
uncontrollably. Ronan kneels down and slips his arms under her
body.

“On the count of three,” he says nodding to
Zane who realigns her leg, once Ronan lifts her body up. It doesn’t
surprise me when she vomits all over Zane—I’ve been known to do the
same when I’m in severe pain. She apologizes profusely in-between
sobs, even though he doesn’t make a deal of it. His shirt is
already stained with blood, I assume is his own. Claire and I
immediately go to work on stabilizing Liz's leg, sighing with
relief when she’s able to move it without pain.

“Zane what did your father say?” I anxiously
inquire, hoping this whole thing wasn’t in vain. A look of
confusion passes across his face and his brows furrow as he tries
to recall. My heart sinks thinking that this was all for nothing.
He reaches for the notepad and reviews two full pages worth of
dictated notes before his face shows any recognition of the
conversation. Finally he looks at me and a slow smile spreads
across his face.

“Chord is here in Colorado Springs—less than
twenty miles away. Sirdar lied—they don’t have him. My father had
him moved before he was killed. Have you ever heard of the Cheyenne
Mountain nuclear bunker?”

***

Claire isn’t happy at all about being asked
to stay at the Williams' house while Ronan and I leave to find
Chord. She’s more than willing to stand guard for revisiting
spirits—that’s not the problem. I’ve learned to read her so well
that when we make eye contact I know the real issue is about being
separated from me.

“I know we’re asking a lot from you by
leaving you in charge, but you’re the only one qualified right
now,” Ronan says in a serious tone, kneeling down in front of her.
Immediately she loses the semi sulky pout, putting on a brave face
instead. The idea of being in charge appeals to her enough that
she’s willing to overlook being temporarily separated from us.

“As long as everyone does what I say, we
should be okay,” she says importantly. The others nod their heads
obediently and Austin even salutes her. How in the world Ronan
thinks of just the right thing to say to her is puzzling, but I’m
glad he’s got the knack. With any luck we’ll be back in a few hours
with her big brother, then off to Santiago Chile to find our
parents, assuming we have no problems getting the jet out of
Colorado Springs Airport.
Take it one step at a time
, I
remind myself, blocking the voice of worry that Lawrence says has
no value and will interfere with intuition. I catch him studying me
from across the room and we smile at each other. The gash on his
forehead is already fading after being treated with a dose of
energy, and although he discourages lying for any reason, I’m sure
he’d just as soon not have to explain to Bernie how he got it in
the first place. We decided amongst ourselves that the less we
disclose to the others, the better, and we even managed to
reassemble Kenneth’s science lab downstairs back to its original
state, minus the loss of a few broken petri dishes and some
squished frogs.

“They’re back,” Ronan says, the first to
detect their car coming down the street. He tells us that the
Williams' car has a distinct rattle coming from the muffler that
distinguishes it from others in the neighborhood—I’ll take his word
for it. Minutes later, Jason, Alisha, and the Williams come walking
in the house with a boatload of packages, which explains how Jason
was able to keep Alisha occupied for so long. She drops her armload
on the floor and scurries directly over to Zane.

“He said my sister and parents were in Chile
too?” she anxiously asks, grabbing him by the arm.

“He did,” Zane replies hesitantly, looking
at me questioningly. I give a slight shake of my head cluing him in
not to say anything about her dad right now. Aside from Jason,
Ronan is the closest to her and should be the one to tell her that
the disincarnate being wouldn’t confirm where Mr. Salisbury was
being kept—or if he was even still alive.

“Thank God,” she murmurs, surprising him
with a hug, before turning to Ronan. “I think we should split up
and leave for Chile right away while you guys stay here to find
Chord,” she says in a poor attempt to sound decisive. He firmly
shakes his head no. “Since when do you call the shots around here?”
she challenges with her hands on her hips. Ronan smartly doesn’t
engage—he simply grabs his coat and says, “Ali—Liz hurt her leg and
we need you to take a look and make sure it’s okay.” Liz is propped
up on the couch, still pale from her ordeal, and although she hates
it when people fuss over her, she perceives that she’s needed as a
distraction and is a good sport about letting Alisha examine her
leg.

“Here—I made you some sandwiches.” Lena
hurries from the kitchen carrying a grocery bag full of food. “The
car has a full tank of gas, and it’ll be better if you take
ours—just in case they’re looking for the rental cars,” she says,
handing Zane the keys. We had already pre-decided that he should go
given that he’s familiar with the nuclear bunker, but we’re a
little surprised when he turns to Natalie and says, “I think you
should come along too—after all you are my fiancée.” He winks at
her, and she flips him off.