Soul Inheritance (21 page)

For as long as anyone could remember they were a power in the area. They had an uncanny business sense. An unnatural sort of luck and wealth and their enemies had a tendency to die bizarre deaths.

The McKlannen family had come over on a ship when the country was still considered the new world. They’d built the town from the ground up. Until the nineteen thirties they’d still owned at least half of it. By the time of the fire most of it’d been sold off. The family fenced the lake and the surrounding area after the last surviving couple built a modest two story house in town. All that was left of the businesses was a general store.

The night of the fire, when the new house had burned to the ground, Michael McKlannen tried to leave carrying a scorched box swearing he’d never return. He ranted and raved against unseen entities, cursing them, vowing he wouldn’t carry on their reign. After a short stint in the state mental ward he and the box disappeared and no one had been able to find him. Every year, like clockwork the taxes were paid from somewhere outside the country and the land remained in the McKlannen family as far as anyone knew. No one had ever come to claim it, until now.

Michael McKlannen had a twin sister, Melissa McKlannen who followed him to the institution, but still resided there, bouncing between a padded room and some semblance of sanity. Jim had been to see her once or twice, but nothing she said made much sense. Just random ramblings about shadows, how she could smell lake water flowing through the windows at night, hear the wolves baying in the distance.

That was where the trail ended for Jim, until now. He drove to the motel, parked in front of Katherine’s room, where her Jeep was parked, and settled down in the seat, setting his wrist watch to wake him in a few hours.

‡

Katherine settled into a room and fell asleep thinking of Jim Lancaster instead of the tangle of family inheritance yet to be figured out. The other lives she’d absorbed offered little information. They mostly provided general confidence and strength, survival instincts of a sort. Miranda, however, fed her information almost constantly, in such a way that she often didn’t realize she knew the things she did until it came up in the course of things.

After hours of peaceful darkness she woke on the shores, the water lapping gently just a few feet away. Immediately she got to her feet, assessed her surroundings. Miranda’s confidence began to warm her veins against the cooling fall air. That strange sensation she’d felt before tingled in her spine and up her neck. There was a different feeling in the air. The lake was dark and brooding, she wasn’t in the past like when Miranda’s memories had been filling the dream. This was present, but the need to be afraid wasn’t there.

Intimidation hung heavy in the air, there was a sensation that the creatures there felt threatened. With a strange sort of pleasure she realized that the intimidation was coming from her, from the power that tingled and stirred like Old Faithful waiting to be released. They sensed it, craved it, coveted it, but most of all they feared it.

Katherine walked with confidence toward the house, felt the power around her resisting, trying to slow her down as before. It didn’t work; she walked through it as if it were merely an annoyance. The house loomed overhead as she stopped to look up, let the part of her that was Miranda admire the place she’d once called home. The boards of the porch creaked underfoot. The rail was smooth and still in her hand, the door knob cool to the touch. She pushed against the door.

Nothing happened. It was sealed shut by the years of neglect. She walked around the porch to the window, peeked in. The dust formed a thick film on the glass. From what she could make out there was still furniture in what looked like a parlor with a fireplace. Making her way around the porch she went to the side of the house, at the end was a broken window, allowing her a view of what’d once been a dining room. A long table lined with chairs sat in the middle. A long, tall hutch was in one corner, and a simple, old fashioned chandelier that looked as though it still took candles hung from the ceiling, all covered with an inch of dust. Dead leaves littered the floor, probably blown in through the broken panes of glass. There was still a broom sitting in one corner.

Going around to the back she found another door, this time the hinges creaked and allowed entry. Against one wall of the kitchen stood a huge old cook stove, its once white ceramic surface now yellowed with age. Pots sat in their proper place on the cook top, as if waiting for someone to return. A sink and counters with a few very old dishes scattered around them ran along the wall and a large butcher block table, knives still in place sat in the center. As with the dining room everything was covered with a thick layer of dust, webs full of bugs hung in the corners. Dead flies and beetles littered the window sills.

Katherine entered cautiously. Miranda’s memories of cooking in this kitchen flashed before her, the children running toward the dining room as they played. The sound of their laughter hung on the air after the vision had gone. Slowly, she followed their sounds toward the dining room. She found herself looking for the memory of what had happened to them, but was denied. The sounds of sweeping skirts and button up boots as they clicked on the wooden floor came as if they were there in the room with her. The scent of summer, flowers spread about in vases, bread cooking filled the air.

As she stepped through the door instead of dust covered furniture the room gleamed. The wooden floors shined with sunlight glinting through clean windows. The walls were a pleasant soft blue instead of the pasty grey of peeling skin. Candles filled the chandelier, not one speck of dirt to be found on anything.

“
Beautiful wasn’t it?” Greystone’s distinct voice came gently, deep like the voice Miranda once longed to hear on lonely nights. It drew her to the surface. The feelings were so deep, so intense, like nothing Katherine had ever felt, but like everything she wanted to feel. They were so overwhelming she let them come, let her take over. Turning she faced Greystone, expecting to see what she remembered. Expecting to see Charles.

The beast stood in the corner. With the illusion broken the room melted back to its current state. Miranda faltered started to step back, thought better of it.

“
It was.” She said, holding her ground.

“
It can be again.” With a placid look he moved smoothly forward.

“
It’s been so long. How can you still be waiting? Why didn’t you just pass it on to another clan, like it was done to you?” One frail hand wrapped tightly to the back of one of the chairs.

“
I would still be this…” he motioned to his own body, “Such a long time to be alone. After all, we did vow eternity.” Towering over her he looked down into her face, studied her eyes. “I’d forgotten how beautiful your eyes were, what color they were even.” One bent finger touched her cheek, claw carefully retracted, stroked her hair.

Katherine began to stir. To even be this close to him sent chills through her, yet Miranda’s essence let him near, longed for his touch, even as this creature. The memories weren’t like this. She’d resisted, run from him, fought. Finding herself trapped, surprised, forced only to watch she struggled. The stirring in her core churned. It escalated until she tapped into it, pulled herself from Miranda’s depths to the surface. He was only inches from her face now, bending to whisper something in her ear.

In the bowels of the house a clock began to strike the hour as his lips moved. They drowned out the words. By the sixth strike she slipped from the dream world into consciousness.

Katherine sat up as the knock came again. Peeking out of the curtain into the dim light of morning she saw Jim standing at the door. It felt heavy in her tired hand as she turned the handle, opened it, squinted into the light.

“
Mornin’. Told ya I’d be back.” The bright grin spread from one deep dimple to the other. He looked different in a tee-shirt, flannel jacket and jeans. The hiking boots caught her eye.

“
Um. Going somewhere particular today?” Scratching her head she looked around at the deserted parking lot.

“
Yep. Goin' with ya to Shin Pond.” There was no way he was going to let her slip by now. His taste for mystery had been stirred and adventure waited in a place he thought he’d never get to see.

This proclamation brought her around. The feelings stirred in Miranda only moments before came to mind. The crush she had on this man felt more like a warning this morning.

“
Uh, don’t think so.” Katherine rubbed her face with both hands. “I… I really appreciate it, I do. But there are things about me you just don’t know.” She sniffed, “Don’t ever want to know. Not really. Besides, you’re on vacation; you have plans of your own.”

Jim shook his head. “No, not really. I planned to fish and loaf, which was about it. And I know more about you than you think Mz. Katherine.”

It was crazy, she knew it was. For all she knew he could be the killer he claimed Nigel was, but she was capable of protecting herself, even if she wasn’t completely sure how to use the power she’d gotten a taste of it in the dream. It gave her the idea that she just needed to let go. There was an innate trust when it came to him that she couldn’t explain. It had nothing to do with him being a cop. She motioned him into the room, plopped down on the edge of the bed.

Being the gentleman that he was Jim pulled a little chair over from the table, sat down in front of her.

“
You don’t understand,” she began, “there’re things going on with me, things I don’t fully understand myself and it’s just not a good time to be around me.”

“
Ya mean it’s not safe to be with ya.” A strong serious face met her surprised expression. “I know who ya’re. You’re the long lost McKlannen heir. I know the legends, the stories about your lake, how your grandparents died, what happened to your father before he left. I also know there’s a great deal of danger ‘round ya. What I don’t know, at least clearly that is, why.”

At first Katherine only stared in disbelief. Then she realized she’d stumbled onto something.

“
It sounds like you know more about my family than I do.” She studied him carefully, wondering if he had something more to do with all of this than it seemed. Was it chance they met, or intentional?

Tilting his head to one side he looked hard at her. “Ya mean Michael didn’t tell ya ‘bout your heritage?”

“
Who?” she paused, “Oh, you mean my father.”

“
Yea, Michael McKlannen. He left not long after the fire.”

“
He changed it to Mitch. You mean the fire his parents died in?”

“
Yea. He went bonkers or least people thought he did. But surely ya knew that?” Jim watched her face, realized quickly she didn’t know.

“
The fire, was that the big house at the lake?”

“
No, it was the house in town. They’d just built it not long before it burnt down with them in it. It was a mysterious thing. The fire started in their bedroom, they burnt alive. Most fires the victim dies of smoke inhalation before the fire gets ‘em. The fire started right there where they were. The report said there was some sorta accelerant. Then Michael… well,” He stopped there, waited for a reaction beyond the blank stare he was getting.

“
What?”

“
He went nuts right there on the scene, yelling about things out to get the family and how he was leaving and never coming back.”

“
I see. Well, that makes sense.” She glanced at Jim, saw how badly he wanted to know. “What’s your interest in all of this?”

“
Well, all my life I’ve been fascinated by this. I’ve studied it, researched everything I could find, collected all the stories. Wanted to know more, wanted to find out what’s truth, what wasn’t, what the real story was. To know what really happened there over all the time it’s been in your family. Some people have their Big Foot, I’ve got McKlannen Lake.” He smiled warmly, he hoped convincingly.

“
Sounds like you know what you’re getting yourself into. What happened to Dad after the fire?” A little fishing couldn’t hurt, then she’d send him away.

“
He went nuts on the scene and they put him up in the Bangor State Mental Hospital for a while. It wasn’t long, though, and when he got out he disappeared.”

She nodded. “Yea, he changed his name, got married, moved to North Dakota for a while and then when Mom died he moved to North Carolina. I never knew about the hospital though.”

“
Ya’ll not talk much? Bad terms?”

“
No, actually we were quite close. At least I thought we were. Until lately. He’s actually why I’m here,” she paused, looked closely at Jim to gauge his reaction. “They got him, except for an aunt I’m all that’s left. They’re after me now and they’re not going to stop until they either get me or I find some way out of this.”

The expression on his face didn’t change, but stayed stern and serious. “It obviously didn’t do him any good to run. Do ya have a plan? Any idea what ta do?”

“
Wow, you didn’t even flinch.” A relieved grin crossed her face.

“
I told ya, I’ve looked into this my whole life. People’ve disappeared up there and the stories the law’s told about looking around that lake are hair raising. It got so they wouldn’t look there anymore. I’ve seen some things in my time, like last night, that cause me to keep an open mind. There’s some very isolated places up here and some strange shit happens. They can’t all be hallucinations and drunks. Too many reputable people see stuff.” He took a breath, looked down at his hands. “What’d your dad tell you about your aunt?”