Eximere (The River Book 4) (3 page)

“How can we do that if we don’t know what it is?” Steven
asked.

“I’ve had mediums here before,” Percival said. “They all left
mystified. When I was talking with Jonathan, he suggested there’s something
else you might try, that involves several of you.”

“I was thinking of a focus,” Jonathan said. “Seven of us at
once might be able to pierce through to whatever is happening here, figure it
out, and solve the problem for the town.”

“A focus might work,” Myrna said. “It has before.”

“I told Kent I’d see if I could find a group of us who’d be
willing to help – that’s why you’re here. If you’re all willing, I’d like us to
try a focus after dinner and see what we can uncover.”

Myrna and Jonathan began talking about specifics, and Steven
leaned over to Eliza.

“What’s a focus?” he whispered to her, not wanting to sound
ignorant in front of the group.

“You know when Roy goes into a trance?” Eliza whispered back.
“It’s like that, but several of us trance all at once, all focused on the same
thing. It concentrates the effect.”

“Have you done this before?” Steven asked.

“A couple of times,” she replied. “Not often. Usually there
are too many egos involved, and it doesn’t always work.”

Steven had seen his father go into a trance on several
occasions. Both Steven and his father were able to jump into “the River” at
will. He suspected the others in the room also had this ability – with perhaps
the exception of Kent Percival. The River was a stream, constantly flowing
through everything, filled with an alternative perspective. The ability to
enter the River was what most people meant when they said that someone was
“gifted.” Before Steven’s father had shown him how to enter the River, Steven
had no idea how to do it, or even that he
could
do it. Steven had been a
rational non-believer in all things supernatural, and to find that his father
could do such things had seemed incredible to him. Not only could they enter
the River, but Roy was able to enter a trance state where he could go deeper.
Steven had been learning from Roy how to do this, but he had only tranced a few
times, and not entirely successfully. He was still learning. Roy was passing
down the skills he’d learned throughout his lifetime to him, but it was taking
some time.

Apparently all of the others had the ability to trance as
well, and that’s why Jonathan had invited them – so they could all trance at
the same time – a “focus,” he’d called it. He let his mind return to the
conversation around the table.

“…without knowing exactly what we’re trying to accomplish. A
focus can be very powerful. By its nature it must be directed and very
specific, or it can be dangerous,” Myrna said.

“The object of the focus,” Jonathan said, “will be to uncover
what spirits haunt this house. We’ll start there. Once we learn what we’re dealing
with, we’ll form a plan. This isn’t anything unusual; we’ve all done it
before.”

“Usually we’ve uncovered those answers without a focus,”
Eliza said. “Are you sure?”

“Based on what Kent has told me,” Jonathan said, “I think
it’s the only way. And certainly the quickest way. The focus will get us to the
heart of the matter much more rapidly than individually trying to piece it
together.”

“I have superior control during focus sessions,” Russell
said, “so I’m confident I can help the group keep it together.”

“What is it you do, exactly?” Roy asked Russell.

“He’s a hack,” Marilyn said.

Russell turned to her, angry. The dog in Marilyn’s arms
lurched at Russell, snapping and yelping. Marilyn increased her hold on the dog
and pulled him back towards her chest, silencing him.

“He’s a television medium who scams people,” Marilyn said.

“That’s a scurrilous lie,” Russell said. “I’ve never scammed
anyone.”

“You give what we do a bad name!” Marilyn said, her voice
rising with emotion.

“Just because I’m more successful than you doesn’t mean you
need to lash out,” Russell said.

“So you go on the TV and, what, read people’s minds, that
kind of thing?” Roy asked.

“Haven’t you ever seen ‘The Other Side with Russell Powers’?”
asked Eliza. “That’s his show.”

“No, I haven’t,” Roy said. “Sounds like garbage.”

“Jonathan,” Russell said, “you asked me here. I don’t need
these attacks from people I’m trying to help.”

“You’re not helping me,” Marilyn said, “or any of us.”

“Guys,” Jonathan said, “let’s lay off each other. We’re not
here to snipe at each other’s credentials or personalities. We’re here to help Mr.
Percival.”

“I like your show,” Eliza said, smiling at Russell. Steven
watched as Russell melted and beamed back at Eliza. “It’s entertaining.”

“He has no credentials,” Marilyn said.

“That’s not true, either,” Russell said. “I attended East
Maynard where I received a board certification.”

“How did you graduate from an all-girls school?” Roy asked
dryly.

“Enough!” Steven said. “Let’s save our energy for the task at
hand, shall we?”

“Thank you,” Jonathan said. “Everyone just take a breath and
sit back down at the table. If we’re going to be successful with the focus,
we’ll need everyone on the same page.”

Steven and Roy returned to their seats, and Marilyn dug in
her purse for a treat she fed to the dog.

“I realize this was a long trip for some of you,” Percival
said. “I’m very appreciative. Believe me, if you’re able to help remove
whatever curse is on this house, you’ll change many lives for the better.”

“You keep saying curse,” Myrna said. “Why? Do you know of a
specific curse?”

“No, not a specific one,” Percival said. “I guess I’m using
the term generally. I consider this place a curse on the area. I believe whatever
is here is killing the surroundings, the town. I don’t know why, I just know
that it is.”

“If no one objects and you’re all finished with dinner, I
propose we start the focus now,” Jonathan said.

Everyone glanced around the table, looking at each other’s
face to see if there were concerns or objections. Everyone seemed to shrug, as
though proceeding would be fine.
We have, after all, come all the way out
here,
Steven thought.

“We’ll need chairs arranged in a circle,” Jonathan said to Percival.

“No problem, come with me,” Percival said, rising from the
table and walking out a door on the far end of the room.

The group left what remained of the meal and followed Percival.
They passed through a long hallway, lined with dark green wallpaper that had
raised designs. Steven stifled a desire to reach out and touch the wallpaper,
which he imagined would have a feel of velvet or felt. They passed by several
closed doors. Steven wondered what was behind them. Eventually they emerged
into a large open room with a staircase. “Follow me,” Percival said as they
ascended the steps into another hallway at the top.

Steven was now completely disoriented. He wasn’t sure he’d be
able to follow the route back out to the kitchen if the need arose. He placed
his trust in Roy and Eliza and followed the group forward.

They walked through another hallway and turned into a large,
dimly lit room that had a billiard table at one end. There were padded chairs
spread throughout, and plenty of space in the center of the room.

“Will this work?” Percival asked Jonathan.

“Oh, I should think so,” Jonathan said. “Everyone, please
grab a chair that you like and let’s arrange them all in the center, here.”

The chairs were not ornate, but they were tall and nicely
padded, and had some weight. After a few minutes of dragging and situating, the
group was finally sitting in a circle. As Steven sat, he looked at the walls of
the room. There were a couple of covered windows. A door led to another room on
his right. There were more chairs against the far wall, and a small table with
a lamp. Darkly colored wallpaper lined this room, with a fine pattern that
Steven couldn’t make out without moving closer.

“Do you mind if I watch?” Percival asked.

“That’s fine,” Jonathan answered, “but if you wouldn’t mind,
could you watch from over there, by the pool table? We’ll want to keep the
circle from becoming distracted.”

“Oh, I’ll be silent, you won’t even know I’m here,” Percival
said, smiling and moving out of the way and into the shadows at the far end of
the room.

Steven saw Jonathan remove the toothpick from his mouth and
slip it into his jacket pocket. Then Jonathan looked at them all, one by one,
receiving a nod from each person in the circle. Steven took this to mean they
were acknowledging that they were ready. When Jonathan looked at him, Steven
gave the same nod, even though he had no idea what was about to happen.
Wing
it
, he thought.
If this had been a big deal that I needed some
instruction on, Roy would have told me as we were walking up the stairs.

Or maybe,
he thought,
it is a big deal and he just didn’t want to embarrass me
in front of everyone. Why would you bring a newbie like me to something like
this?

Jonathan lowered his head, and the others in the circle did
the same. Steven followed suit and let his mind slip into the River.

The familiar sensation of going into water enveloped him. It
wasn’t real water, of course, but it marked the place where he was able to see
what others could not. As he looked around the circle, he saw each of the
others wrapped inside their own bubble, the result of the trance that each of
them was inducing. He focused his mind and tried to slip into a trance himself,
but he wasn’t exactly sure how to initiate it. When he’d done it before, Roy
had helped him, but now Roy was concentrating on his own trance. He didn’t want
to be embarrassed and have one of the others look up and see him unable to do
it.

He let his mind wander. How would he know when he was in a
trance? Would it feel different? He tried to force it, and realized it would
never happen that way.

Now, focus on the house
, he heard Jonathan think.
The focal point is the
house. In the center of the circle is the house. Who is in the house? What has
happened in the house? Is the house evil? On the count of three, send all
thought to the center of the circle.

Steven felt as though he was not ready. He looked at himself,
and he didn’t see the bubble that had formed around the others. He was still
just in the River, not yet in a trance. These experts could drop into a trance
in minutes, but for him it wasn’t something he was able to do so quickly. As he
watched, he saw motion; matter beginning to move from one person to the next.
The bubble around each of them began to merge until they were all connected.
Steven saw the bubble pass in front of him, connecting Eliza on one side to Roy
on the other, but it was not going through him. He hadn’t made it into a trance
in time.

The swirling motion increased, and Steven saw a light emerge
from each of the others, moving slowly towards the center of the circle. There
was no light emerging from him. The swirling increased in intensity. Steven
could feel the movement inside him, exciting him and intensifying everything.
He tried to focus on the center of the circle, to make something happen, but
nothing came out. The light emerging from the others slowly approached the
center. He was too late; he was not going to be part of it.

After a few more seconds he saw the lights converge, where
they became much more intense, forming a small ball of light in the center. Then
slowly, a single point of darkness formed in the center of the circle, inside
the convergent point. It rapidly shot from the center of the circle, racing
back up the ray of light that had emerged from each participant. Steven saw the
others rock back in their chairs, as though they had been hit by something. He
saw the front legs of Marilyn’s chair lift up off the ground as though she would
be knocked over, but then they settled back on the floor. The light from their
trances was gone. Steven watched as the bubble dissolved, and he saw them one
by one leave the flow, exit the River. He followed and opened his eyes, looking
around the circle. He felt the familiar stab of pain in the back of his neck
that always accompanied an exit from the flow.

“What the fuck?” Roy said.

“What was that?” Myrna said, standing up, but reaching out to
the chair to steady herself.

They heard a clapping from the other end of the room. Steven
stood and turned. In the dark of the room by the pool table, Percival was
clapping his hands together as though he’d just witnessed a theatrical
performance.

“Well done!” he said. “Bravo!”

Jonathan stood up, and glanced at each of the participants.
Roy stood and turned to Percival. “No, it didn’t work.”

Percival kept clapping, and now began walking forward towards
the others. “No, it was stellar. Better than I expected.”

“No, Kent,” Eliza said, “I don’t think you understand. Something
went wrong.”