Ghost Program (18 page)

   “We’re going upstairs.  I’m gonna carry you up.”

   “I’m heavy, Brent.”

   “Shut up,” he replied.  As before, he lifted me, although I’m not sure how he was able to do it so easily.   

   I
should’ve
broken his back.  When he laid me on the bed, I winced as my little rib bones rubbed together, and he must’ve seen the look of pain on my face because he grabbed my prescription bottle off of the desk and brought it to me.

   “There’s still some wine left in that bottle,” he said, grabbing my wine bottle and handing it to me.

   “Thanks,” I said, taking a pill from him and washing it down with the wine.  “Can you go to the kitchen?  Or is it gonna be too weird with that woman down there?”

   “I’m not sure....” he said.  “I could go get some snacks for us, but if I see her, I’m gonna run.”

   “It’s understandable.”  I panted a little as he placed some pillows under my back.  “There’re some sandwiches on the top shelf of the fridge.”

   “I’ll bring some drinks, too,” he said.  “Are you comfortable?  I could put the heat up.”  He pulled a blanket over my legs.

   “I feel fine, just a little peckish is all.”

   “I’ll be right back,” he said.  “Don’t go anywhere.”

   “I couldn’t if I wanted to,” I laughed.  “You left my crutches at the bottom of the stairs.”

   “Sorry ‘bout that.  But I couldn’t carry you and the crutches.  Relax, and I’ll bring the sandwiches up.”  He kissed my lips, rubbed my back a little, and left.

   I was left alone.  I didn’t think it would make me feel bad; it never had before, that alone-ness.    But it did.  I held my breath until I heard his footsteps on the stairs, then began to breathe again. 

   Brent carried a large sub sandwich and two Cokes.  “Miss me?” he asked.

   “No,” I replied.

   “Liar.”  He pulled a small butter knife out of his pocket and sliced a piece of sandwich off the loaf, then handed it to me.  “Sorry, it’s so messy.  Shoulda brought some plates.”

   “It’s just a sandwich.  You don’t need a plate to eat a sandwich.”

   “I brought the Cokes.”

   “I don’t need it, yet.”

   Brent opened his Coke and took a sip.  His grey eyes were teasing.  “It’s cold.  You don’t know what you’re missing.  Have some of mine.”  He put the edge of his can on my lips and tipped it up.

   I had no choice but to drink it.

   “Wanted you to know what you were missing,” he said with a smirk on his face.

   “It’s sweet,” I said.

   “And cold,” said Brent.

   “There are bubbles in it.”

   “One of life’s little pleasures.”

   “Sit by me.  Have a sandwich.”  I patted the mattress next to me.

   “Think I will.”

   Brent cut himself a piece of sandwich and joined me on the bed.  “How’s the broken bones?” he added.

   “I feel fine.”

   “Have you always been such a seductress?” he asked.

   “Me?  I broke my own rules by letting you get close to me.”

   “Uh, what?”  He looked worried.

   “I had a no dating rule.”

   “Why?”

   “Why not?  I didn’t want to get too emotionally involved with someone.  Have to get married.  Lose my independence.  Have my sense of who I am become lost inside a relationship.  End up married with two kids and unhappy.  End up like mom.”  I hadn’t meant to say those last four words; they just came out.

   “Sam.  Uh.  I’m not trying to stifle you.”

   “I didn’t say you were.”

   “I’m not gonna make you marry me and have ten kids...or two.”  He gave a dry laugh.  “Unless you want me to.”

   “You didn’t let me finish.  I had a no dating rule.  But after I started spending time with you, I realized how much I’d been missing.  And how cold and lonely a life I would’ve had.  It’s not natural, not decent for anyone to be committed to a life with no love in it.”  I hadn’t meant to say
those
last four words either, but they slipped out.

   “Oh,” Brent said, but he looked happy as he mulled over my words.  “You sure you don’t just need me to save you from the Dark Lord or whatever other things are haunting you?”

   “I--what?”

   “I was kidding,” he said.

   “There’s probably nothing you can do to save me.  Maybe I should just get used to the idea that he’s coming for me.  I’ll probably die, and there won’t be anything I can do about it.”

   “Sam,” Brent said softly.  “Don’t talk like that.”

   “It’s true.  I’m doomed.”

   “No, you’re not.  There are plenty of people who will help you if you need it.  You’ve got your parents...any siblings?”

   “One older brother, he moved out.”

   “You’ve got
me.
  I’ll make sure you get through this last week in Seaside in one piece.”

   “If I have to marry the Dark Lord, will you be at the wedding?”

   “Sam!”

   “Sorry.  The pill I took is making me sleepy.”

   “Put your head on the pillow.  I’m not going anywhere.”

   “What if I wake up and you’re gone?”

   “I won’t leave without waking you.  I promise.”

   “If you do, I’ll hunt you down and kill you.”

   “Take a rest.  When you wake up, we’ll watch some shows together.  Can you get cable in here?”

   “If mom brings up the cord.”  I was cold, so I pushed my body close to his and was asleep a minute later.

❃
CHAPTER 15
❃

  
I
opened my eyes.  The heater made a clicking noise as it ran, and the curtains that normally blocked the view from my window had been rolled back.  Brent sat silently next to me on the bed, reading a heavy book.

   “Well, hi,” he said.  “Did you sleep well?”

   “Sure.”

   “I got the cable hooked up,” he said proudly.  “So you can watch more than a few crummy DVDs.”

    Looking out the window, I saw wisps of fog pass through the yard.  “I’m a little hungry.”

   “I took the rest of that sandwich back to the kitchen.  I could run down there again, though.”

   “Look,” I said as I gazed into the backyard.

   “I know.  Tony’s been patrolling it for the last half hour.”

   “How long have I been asleep?”

   “Four hours, Sam.”

   “Four hours?!”

   “You must’ve been tired.”

   “He’s talking to Gregg, now.  Oh, they’re together.  Gregg hasn’t been up to my room, has he?”

   “Not at all.”

   I watched Gregg and Tony converse outside the window, in a corner of the yard, past the fountain.  “Well, they sure get along well.”

   “I’ll be right back.  Maybe your mom has dinner cooked or something.”  Brent gave my hand a squeeze and left the room.

   I saw something unusual in the opposite corner of the yard.  Glowing strangely as if it were a beacon, there stood a low set of stone steps leading up into a brightly lit cave, its entrance unguarded and welcoming, looking as natural in its setting as if it had always been there, but I was sure it hadn’t.  Both Gregg and Tony ignored it, and I wasn’t sure they saw it at all, both of them seeming more interested in each other than the shining portal. 

   I shrugged and turned on the television that Brent had fixed, and sure enough it had about a hundred channels on it.  I flipped through stations, not finding anything really interesting, then settled on a haunted house documentary which wasn’t great entertainment, but it’d do.  I heard Brent’s footsteps on the stairs.  He brought in a platter with tin foil on it.

   “The pizza man had just arrived as I got downstairs.  Your mom wrapped this up for us.”  He placed the plate on my bed.  There were fancy slices of pizza on it, embellished with pineapple pieces, hamburger, and black olives.

   “Wow!”  I said.  “I knew I was getting dinner, but this is great.”

   “I could bring up something to drink.”

   “Do you see that?  Over there in the corner of the yard?”

   Brent looked out the window.  “What is it?”

   “You can see it?”

   “Yeah.”

   “I don’t know.  Some sort of cave...or maybe a portal to another world.”

   “Geesh,” he said.  “I’ve got an idea.  I’ll go back downstairs to get something for us to drink and then maybe I’ll try to go in it... see where it goes.”

   “Brent, no!  What if you go inside it and don’t come back?”

   “Don’t be silly.”

   “I’m not.  We don’t know what that is or what it’s for.  You shouldn’t go messing with it.”

   “Wanna come?”

   “No, it hurts too much to walk.”

   “Where does it hurt?”  He sat close to me on the bed.

   “Everywhere.  Brent, no...”

   Brent lifted my shirt and examined my ribs.  He touched a finger gently along the dark splotches of skin.

   “Stop,” I said.

   “I wanta see it.”  He ran his hand down my side as I squirmed.

   “You’re hurting me.  Go get our drinks.”

   “Okay,” he said.  “Have some pizza, and I’ll bring you a cold beverage in just one minute.”

   He left the room again.  I was already annoyed with him, so what I saw next next made me irate.  As I ate my pizza, I watched the yard through my bedroom window, and there was Brent, walking through the backyard, a hand held up in friendly greeting at Tony and Gregg, who talked quietly to each other in a corner by the stone fence as Brent headed towards the lit cave steps.  I banged on the glass with my fist.

   “Brent!  No!”  I said.  He was a foot from the steps of the lit entrance, and then he was on the other side of it.  “Huh?”  I whispered.  I figured that he couldn’t get in, then laughed as I watched him attempt to ascend the steps a second time only to fall on his knees.  The cave, for whatever reason, would not allow him entrance.

   Shrugging his shoulders, he got up and walked back in the house.  A minute later, he was in my room, holding two Cokes.

   “Jesus, Brent!  You tried to go
in
it?!”  I yelled.

   “Please Sam, calm down.  I just wanted to know what it was.”  In spite of his red cheeks, he took a few steps towards me, watching my face all the while, maybe a little afraid of my anger.

   “Oh!  What if it had sucked you inside, and you didn’t come back?  What would I have told your parents?  What would
I
have done?”

   “As soon as I get close to the steps, it disappears.”  He sat next to me on the bed and clasped his hand in mine, still looking uncomfortable as he stared down at the Cokes in his lap.

   “It disappears?”  I began to relax.

   “I can only see it when I’m standing away from it.”

   “What’s inside?”

   “I don’t know.  As soon as I get close, the light kind of makes it blurry, and then it vanishes as I try to take the first step.”

   “Huh.  Maybe it doesn’t like you.”  I took a Coke from his extended hand.  Brent seemed relieved that I had accepted his carbonated peace offering.  Maybe he expected some other kind of behavior from me, something crazy, something abusive?  I didn’t know.

   He let go of me, then opened his Coke and took a sip.  “It’s weird.”

   The door behind Brent suddenly opened, and he jumped a little in surprise.  It was just mom.

   “Do you think you’re up to taking that math test tomorrow?” she asked.  “I spoke to your instructor.  It would effectively end your math class for you if you could.”

   “It’s gonna suck having to walk around campus.”

   “He said that he’d be willing to bring it to the house and just wait on you.”

   “Well...god, that’s weird.”

   “I know, but he has to watch you take it.”

   “He’s coming to my room?”

   “I’m afraid so, and I’ll only agree to it if it’s okay by you.  He feels bad over what happened.  The whole college does.  I mean, you were hurt by one of their instructors.  I’m sure this is just their way of apology.”

   “Or not getting sued,” I mumbled.

   “Do you want me to tell him to come, then?” mom asked.

   “I guess so.”  If I finished math, I’d only need to turn in my last programming lab, and I’d be done with community college.

   “That’s good.  It saves some effort, you know.  He said he’d be by the house around three.”

   “Yeah,” I said then watched her leave my room.

   “How long you got left in school?”  Brent asked.

   “If I finish my lab tonight, I could be done after my exam tomorrow.”

   “And I can come pick you up?  We could leave for Seattle?”

   “Yeah.”

   “I’d probably be at the house by seven.”

   “Tomorrow evening?”

   “Yep.”

   “We don’t have to stop by your parents house, do we?”

   “No, we can go straight up to my apartment.”

   “Wow.  I’m finally going to the big city.”

   “You sure I’m not pressuring you too much?  I don’t want you to feel like you need to come with me.  I know how you said you like being alone...”

   “Wasn’t so much that I liked it... I want to go to Seattle.  You don’t know how much.  It’s just that...this is new to me.  Having a close relationship is not something I’ve done in the past.”

   “It’s not so bad.  I won’t care where you go or badger you if you come home late.  Won’t tell you what to wear.  Or not to wear.  Won’t criticize you or make you clean up after me.  Or tell you stupid things, like
I like the rain
.”

   “Nobody likes the rain,” I said.

   “I won’t boss you around, tell you that you’ve been naughty.”  He smirked.

   “That’s a shame,” I said.

   Brent looked at me, then laughed.

   Then
I
laughed.  We were both laughing. 

   “The pills again are talking,” I said.  “Try the pizza.  I already ate mine.  It’s actually good.”

   “Yeah,” said Brent, taking his piece and chewing thoughtfully on it.  He paused, then said “You’re right.”

   “It tastes good?”

   “Uh-huh.”

   “Ever wonder what I taste like?”

   “Sam.  Uh, you’re acting....like wow...”  His eyes darted to my face as I giggled.

   “I snuck some wine when you were gone.”  I grinned.

   “Well, that explains it.  As for your question, well...yes, and....you’re mom is downstairs.  So it’s not a subject I’d prefer to dwell on.”

   “I know.”

   My cell phone rang.  Strangely, it was a number that I wasn’t familiar with.

   “Hello?”  I answered.

   “Sam.  This is Karen, the psychic...”

   “I know.  I remember you from earlier today,” I laughed a little.

   “I spent all day working on your...problem.  I’ve also talked a bit with Veronica.  Now, for the most interesting revelation.  I’ve found a Mrs. St. Croix.  Until a few months ago, she still owned a property in Seaside, but didn’t live in it.  Apparently, she’s spent the last twenty-odd years in a very expensive, private psychiatric facility.  One month ago, she died.  And here’s the real scoop.  I was able to speak to the doctor who cared for her.  She was committed to this facility after trying to break into the O’Toole mansion while claiming to everyone that her name was Claire.  Whether she had a nervous breakdown and her confusion over her identity had psychological roots or she was indeed possessed by the spirit of O’Toole’s dead wife, I’m not sure.  But something serious happened to her after her dealings with the Dark Lord.  I think this is good news for you.  I don’t think he takes the women that call for him.”

   “So I’m just going to lose my mind or become possessed.”

   “That is a possibility, yes.  How strong do you feel?  Do you think that you’ll be able to hold on to reality, even if...supernatural forces threaten to take your thoughts?”

   “It’s not my mind I’m worried about.  I’m afraid that I’m going to die.”

   “Well, as I told you, the chances of that are rapidly decreasing.  I don’t believe the Dark Lord to be a killer of innocent women.  As for the demon, he is weaker than any more virtuous spirit.”

   “But
He
could kill me.”

   “Well, you’re a mortal.  It does happen.  But it probably won’t.  Not with Tony protecting you.”

   “I’ve also got Gregg.”

   “Gregg?”

   “He’s dead.  He lives in my bedroom.”

   “Yes...well...”  She didn’t know what to say to that.  “I believe that after the incident with Mrs. St. Croix, the former owners of the O’Toole mansion put it up for sale, and Veronica’s mother bought the place.  They were apparently convinced that the mansion was haunted.”

   “I figured as much.  What did Tony want with his girlfriend?”

   “I’m not sure you’d want to know.  But let me just put it this way....The dead make very cold lovers.”

   “My god, he wanted to...”

   “Don’t say it.  But yes.”

   “And she agreed?”

   “It must have been just awful for her.  Even if she was close to him in life.”

   “He’s in my yard, now.  Tony is here.”

   “Yes, now I’ve warned him about having some discretion, and that is usually no problem, but...if your parents were to notice him, then you may have to come clean about the whole thing.  I’m sorry; I know that’s not the easiest way...”

   “If it comes down to it, I’ll tell them what he’s doing here.  I’ll tell everything.”

   Brent watched me as I talked.

   “This is good for him, too,” said Karen.  “He was excited about coming to work for you.  It gives him purpose.  You know, he was a detective in real life.”

   “Does he know he’s dead?” I asked.

   “He’s aware, yes.”

   “Gregg doesn’t.”

   “Sometimes they just won’t admit as much to themselves; it’s too painful.  There are those who are so attached to this world that they don’t want to lose it.  Earth was such a happy place for them, then they die and don’t want to leave.  Most people, however, realize that it is a place of both intense happiness and intermittent struggle and sorrow.  I don’t believe it is a good place for eternal rest; it is not the right place for spirits.  It is better for them to go somewhere else, Sam.”