Soul Inheritance (29 page)

Cautiously Jim approached, listening carefully for movement. He took an old lantern from the shelf beside the basement, pulled out a lighter and lit it. To his amazement it still worked. Carrying it carefully in front of him he descended the stairs. 

There was no movement in the darkness. The lantern light didn’t reach far, but Jim had no doubt Nigel was squatting here in darkness, just waiting for him to get close enough. Shelves of old jars lined one stone wall. The smell of damp stone and dirt permeated the air.

Something moved behind him and he spun around to face it. What he expected to see was Nigel, what slithered from the darkness was the thing Katherine had described seeing in her car. The terrifying description had not done it justice as it rose up from its coils and swayed, it’s pale, bony torso ghostly in the dim light, tongue flicking in and out.

“
Welcome to the family!” it hissed as it sprang forward, causing Jim to stumble backward and spill to the floor.

The lamp flew from his hand and landed with a clatter on the floor. The glass broke, but the wick still burned. The thing now hung in the air above him, ready to pounce.

The ring on his finger burned, shimmered in the dim light. Its glow spread out, quickly finding a mark in the thing that would have torn him to shreds. Now it recoiled, screamed in horrified amazement as the light enveloped it, sent it screaming back to where ever it had come from.

Jim sat stunned on the floor, heart beating so hard he thought it might jump right out of his chest. There was still Nigel to contend with, so he got up, brushed himself off and reached for the lamp. Before his hand could grasp it Nigel emerged from the shadows.

The men exchanged blows, wrestled on the dirt floor, fighting for control of the gun. Nigel had the advantage, the unnatural strength he’d been given to function at all. He finally sat astride Jim, leaned on him as he tried to turn the gun inward. It twisted in his grasp. Jim couldn’t be sure which way it was pointing. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

‡

Katherine was unexpectedly yanked out the window with Greystone. Screaming she closed her eyes tight, waiting for impact as she plummeted toward the stone floor of the veranda.

Just as suddenly as she’d been jerked out the window, she was snatched from the air, only feet from colliding with the glass roof. Greystone’s arms wrapped around her as he lifted them both, flapping his wings effortlessly. He headed for the cove, where he finally came to rest, dumping her on the shore. With speed and precision he pinned her to the mossy ground. Anger glistened in his eyes and his breath quick and heavy.

“
Let her out!” he snarled. “Don’t you get it. You’re not going to win. You’re not meant to win. We have the power here, you’re just a
mistake
,” he spit out the last word with contempt.

“
She’s not going anywhere. You two made the mistake. When you assumed you could control me, just take my life over. Turn me into what you are,” she returned the sentiment, but he only glared at her.

“
You let her out or I’ll kill you now,” he pinned her arms above her head, stretched her out beneath him, drawing out the long claws of one hand.

Katherine stretched her neck, put her face as close to his as possible. “You try and I’ll stomp her out of existence before I draw my last breath.”

“
I’ll have her back. You won’t win,” he snarled.

Ripping a piece of her shirt away he bound her hands, tied them to a nearby tree limb and let her sit there while he thought about the situation. After sitting by the waters edge for a while contemplating what to do he got up, sneered at her. Katherine called up all the power stirring in her core, threw it toward him as he strode in her direction. He waded through it, unaffected.

“
That doesn’t work on me. You’ve truly surprised me Katherine. You’re stronger than I would’ve ever thought. Once again she’s out of reach. But what’s another twenty years or so in the face of eternity? If I curse you back into the power, then pass it on to another family I’ll still save her, still get her back.” He spread his wings and disappeared into the fading evening, leaving her there to wonder.

‡

Jim shoved Nigel off, put one hand on his stinging arm. The bullet had grazed him, but ultimately found its mark. Now Jim knelt next to him, put the gun close to his chest and fired the fatal shot into his heart. The glow in his eyes died away and was gone.

Upstairs Jim checked his pocket for the squirt bottle. It was still there. He went back to the third floor, stared out the broken window at the veranda below. Katherine wasn’t lying down there in pieces, so Greystone must have taken her, but where?

As he watched something large flew over the tree tops from the lake emitting a piercing wave of sound. Greystone lighted on the ground outside the veranda, went about gathering torches, disappeared into the house, then returned. Instead of flying back out he stalked into the woods, toward the cove.

As Jim found his way down the stairs he heard things stirring in the rooms and in the cellar. He rushed out the front door and down the steps, snagging his pack as he went. Things moved behind him as he reached the trees. He looked back to see movement in the windows, the house came alive with shadows and lights, eyes that gleamed out into the growing gloom of late evening.

Heart thundering, fear for Katherine growing, love for her spurring him on, he ran through the trees. The limbs grabbed at him, tore through his shirt, ripped at his legs. The stings went unnoticed as the smell of the lake water grew stronger and the light of torches shone through the dense trees.

Chapter seventeen

Miranda squirmed inside of Katherine, who now pressed down on her with a vengeance. If Miranda got out now it was all over. She watched as Greystone set the torches in two rows, leading from where she was tied to the water. Things began to stir. She could feel them rising up from a place she’d been unaware of before.  Creatures like him. Family members trapped here in various forms over the centuries.

There was a convergence taking place. The placid surface of the lake became choppy, water curling in toward shore. The dark liquid seemed anxious to reach out for her, draw her down into its depths. Greystone knelt, turned his head to the moon and stars, sat there waiting.

The dreams came back to Katherine. All that she’d learned rolled through her head like a movie. The creation of this place, the children standing at his feet, the gathering the night Miranda had died as his wife. The night she had died as someone else’s. How much she’d changed between the two lives. Her progression had been taking her in the direction of acceptance. The fire hadn’t changed that so much as the act of love that spurred it. Like Jim’s love had changed her outlook, her fundamental direction.

That was when she realized what had ultimately turned her. Love. The love her grandfather had for her grandmother had spurred him to save her by setting fire to their bed with them in it. Set her free, or so he thought, from this curse. He’d cleansed her soul, but because she was bound to the family by different means she’d still been born into the line. Katherine found herself wondering what had happened to him. Thought of Jim. That was why they were so immediately drawn to each other. Tears threatened to come, blurring her vision. It no longer mattered.

The wind picked up, blowing the colorful fall leaves from the trees in showers. Her heart ached for Jim. If she wasn’t faring well then he must be dead. With everything that was rising up it was only a matter of time if he wasn’t already. The ring could only protect him from so much, unless he ran, left the lake. He wasn’t that kind of guy and she was sure of his fate if he hadn’t, just as she was sure of her own.

The dagger gleamed in Greystone’s hands as he knelt, his wings slowly spread as he concentrated on drawing power to him, drawing the family together. The night he’d sacrificed his wife that he might regain her in another life was replaying itself. She’d been set free by the fire. Unless she did something quick she was going to be starting all over again.

From the trees to her right emerged the slithering thing she’d seen in the car at the hospital. It grimaced in her direction, took its place near the water. The glowing eyes of the wolves emerged one at a time, slinking from the growing shadows to sit in ragged lines. Their deep gray coats gleamed in the torchlight; their eyes were focused on their master. 

Other creatures appeared from the woods one by one. Each part animal, part human, part unearthly. One took the form of a large bear, claws long and sharp, body thick, covered with dark fur, face clearly human. Another had the bearing of an upright cat, fur tawny and sleek. Each was unique in its own way, no two were alike until nearly a dozen of them stood silently at attention.

Greystone stood, turned, his back to the lake, arms spread. Before him a mist grew and undulated, flowing to and fro between the torches. Slowly, as if reluctantly, it began to form shapes. Human shapes. Each developed until they were clear and solid.

Each wore the clothes of the last time they’d lived. Some were from as early as the turn of the seventeenth century, none later than the nineteen thirties. Katherine searched through them for her father, did not find him there. Greystone came to stand beside her.

Motioning them aside the group of people quickly separated. The waters of the lake seemed to part as something moved through them, making its way to shore. It found its feet, waddled forward, shaking the water from its thick, brown fur. Beady eyes sparkled in the firelight, long canines gleamed from either side of its mouth. It came forward, halted on the shore there as if unwilling to come further.

Walking to it Greystone reached down and grabbed a collar around its neck, pulled it struggling toward Katherine. Finally he tossed it at her feet. It laid there, its head tucked under front paws, hiding its face.

“
Up!” he ordered the thing.

It did as it was commanded, as though it had no choice but to obey. It pulled its paws under it, pushed slowly upward until it stood on all fours. Its head rose until it was on eye level with Katherine.

The features seemed familiar at first. With growing horror Katherine realized it was her father. Tears streaked down her face, hatred filled her heart. He’d betrayed the family, so he’d become one of the creatures that haunted the lake.

A cruel and hateful laughter rang through the air as Greystone collected his pet and went to the center of the torches.

“
We must ensure the survival of the family. In order to do so we must roll Katherine’s cleansed essence, our only hope for survival, back into the folds. As we did with Miranda so shall we now do with her. Join me in my request.” Greystone raised his arms, let a deep hum resound from him. It grew in volume, was then joined by the others.

There was a soft rattling of leaves behind her. She grimaced, closed her eyes tight as she felt a tug on her bonds.

“
Shhh, wait,” Jim’s whisper came from behind her.

Holding her hands in place, though they were no longer bound, she waited. When the group seemed most distracted Jim pulled her into the shadows. They moved as quickly and quietly as possible. They’d only progressed a few hundred feet when a roar radiated from somewhere behind them.

Finding her feet on a trail Katherine shot through the narrow opening in the trees, Jim on her heals. In only minutes they found themselves in the clearing, the hunchbacked cabin before them. Katherine paused, headed for the shelter of the fragile structure.

“
No, no,” Jim yelled, “The truck, we have to make it to the truck. We won’t survive in there.”

Grabbing his hand she dragged him toward the cabin. “Trust me. I know what to do.”

And she did. She knew very clearly what had to happen. Greystone was at the center of it all, he was the glue that held the family together. The cabin door slammed behind them, the bolt was put in place.

“
Fire, build a fire,” she gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Jim did as he was told, though he wasn’t sure he understood. Taking the bottle from his pocket he sprayed some of the fluid on the wood and lit it. The dry kindling and paper came to life with a whoosh.

“
Come,” Katherine said, facing the door. “Put your arms around me.”

Jim stood behind her, wrapped his arms tightly. Katherine took a deep breath, closed her eyes and concentrated. The creatures were gathering, coming into the clearing from all sides. She could feel them as clearly as if the walls were not there and she was watching them come.

One large wolf made his way forward, padded up onto the porch. Katherine let forth a small burst of energy, sweeping him away like a leaf in the wind. The others moved forward, tried to overtake her by sheer numbers. She let them come, let them gather until they were all near the cabin walls. Another burst radiated forth. The pool overflowed, washed over her body and Jim, spread outward seeping through the walls and smashing into the creatures, dragging them backward toward the tree line.

None were able to resist save for Greystone. He strode through it unaffected. The door cracked and crumbled under his weight. Standing before her he snarled in anger.