Swimmer (26 page)

‘First of all, we have to have a seance, to bring Jane's spirit through to the place where we want to trap her. Once we've done that, we have to tempt her into taking on the shape of the Swimmer. I don't think that's going to be difficult, because we can make sure that there's plenty of water around, and we can give her somebody that she's more than anxious to drown.'

‘Like who?'

‘The woman who pushed her under the water at West Grove College, and killed her. It was Jennie Oppenheimer … Mikey's mother.'

Susan nodded, and kept on nodding. ‘Of course. Jennie Oppenheimer. That doesn't surprise me at all. Do you know something, I had such a strange feeling about her when we first went to her house to do the spirit-trace. She had such a disconnected aura, like she was trying to hide something from me. And it seemed really unusual for anyone to come to the conclusion so quickly that their son was drowned by a vengeful spirit – even if she
did
see footprints beside the pool, and the bushes moving like somebody had just walked through them. I mean, a vengeful spirit: that's the very last thing that most people would be prepared to believe.'

‘Jennie has a real bad conscience about what she did to Jane all those years ago and she's prepared to help. In return – well, I've agreed not to report her to the police.'

‘I hope she realizes how dangerous it could be.'

‘She does, yes. I've warned her. But she says she's still prepared to do it. She's grief-stricken about Mikey, of course she is. But I think she's still genuinely guilty about what she did to Jane … and what Jane's spirit has been doing to get her revenge.'

‘So, what's your plan?'

‘You raise up Jane's spirit. Once you've done that, I'll be able to see her – so we'll know where she is and what she's going to do next. We'll fill the bathtub, which will give her all the water she needs to turn herself into the Swimmer – and Jennie will be in the bathroom too.'

‘Then what?'

‘Once she takes shape as the Swimmer, we pull Jennie clear, and then we throw gasoline all over her, and set her alight. We have to fight one element with another – at least as far as Laura's old occult books tell us.'

‘And where are you planning on doing this? Not here, I hope? I don't want you burning the whole place down!'

‘No … we'll do it back at my apartment in Venice. Everything's packed up and ready for me to move. The bathroom's all tiled, so there won't be much of a risk of the fire getting out of control. And just to be doubly safe, I'll borrow a couple of fire extinguishers from college.'

‘I don't know,' said Susan. ‘I'd be willing to do it, but I don't think Michael is going to approve.'

‘Can't you make your own decision?'

‘You still don't understand, do you? Michael saved my life, and every minute of every day he goes on saving my life. I'm carrying a time-bomb inside me, Jim. A time-bomb that could explode at any second, and kill me. I have to be grateful to Michael for every breath that I take.'

She hadn't even finished speaking when they heard a high-pitched gargle from the kitchen, followed by the crash of crockery. It was Medlar Tree. Washington jumped and said, ‘Jesus! I thought that guy was dumb!' But all the same he barged his way through to the kitchen, Jim and Susan and Laura following close behind him.

Medlar Tree was standing over the sink with his back to them. He had stopped gargling but he was quivering violently, as if he had just been electrocuted. He had dropped a large Chinese teapot on to the floor, where it was lying broken in three pieces. He was making an odd grunting noise, ‘
Unh
,
unh
,
unh
,' as if he were finding it difficult to breathe. Jim and Washington cautiously approached him.

‘Michael – Medlar Tree – what's happening? What's wrong?'

Michael still didn't answer. Maybe he didn't want to talk to them. Either that or he still refused to break his vow of silence.

‘Michael, come on – tell me what's wrong.'

Jim came closer, and it was only then that he saw that Medlar Tree was being gripped by the throat by a transparent arm reaching out of the sink … an arm that was made of nothing but steaming water. His white make-up was dripping and his cheeks were streaked with black. The watery fingers had a tight grip around his Adam's apple and his whole neck was scalded scarlet.

‘Holy shit,' said Washington. He reached out toward the arm, to pull it away from Medlar Tree's throat, but Jim said, ‘Don't! That's boiling hot water!'

‘Then what?'

Jim wildly looked around. ‘Then – then – turn on the Insinkerator.'

‘Say what?'

‘The Insinkerator! Turn it on!'

Washington flicked down the switch of the sink disposal unit, and there was a sudden blurt of noise. The arm twisted around and around, still clinging on to Medlar Tree's throat, and then suddenly it spun faster and faster and was whipped away down the drain. Within seconds it had vanished.

Jim soaked a dishcloth in icy cold water and clapped it over Medlar Tree's face and held it there. Washington guided him back to the kitchen table and helped him to sit down.

‘Michael, are you okay? Come on, Michael, tell me what happened.'

‘I was warming the teapot,' Medlar Tree whispered, still trembling … ‘I filled it with boiling water, swilled it around and threw it down the sink. Then
wham
. It came back up at me and tried to strangle me.'

‘How do you feel now?'

‘Better, thanks. My face is still burning.'

‘Why don't you go take that make-up off? Then we can see if you need to go to hospital.'

‘I'm okay, I'm fine. I'm just shocked, that's all. That water came up and grabbed me like a goddamned conger eel. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't even move … it was pressing my nerve.'

‘All right, now, take it easy.'

Susan was standing in the doorway, looking fraught. ‘Michael, are you okay? If anything ever happened to you …'

‘I'm okay, I'm fine. Let my get my breath back, that's all.'

‘It was
her
, wasn't it?' said Susan. ‘It was the Swimmer.'

‘I'm afraid so,' Jim told her. ‘It's just like I told you. Anybody I know … anybody who's been helping me … she's going to try to drown them all.'

‘In that case, we have to do something about her,' said Michael. ‘We have to summon her up, like you said, and we have to burn her.'

‘You heard us talking about that?'

Michael nodded. ‘Taking care of Susan … that involves keeping my eyes open and my ears pricked up.'

‘Then you'll allow her to hold a seance?'

‘If we're going to be chancing death every time we go near water, then I don't see that we have very much alternative, do you? All I want you to promise is that you won't expose Susan to any more danger than you have to.'

‘I can't promise you that there won't be
some
risk involved.'

‘Well, that's something we'll have to face up to when the time comes, isn't it? God, my throat hurts. If you guys hadn't been here, that thing would have strangled me for sure.'

‘Okay,' said Jim, ‘if you're really prepared to go ahead with this, I'll fix my apartment up for tomorrow evening. I'll get the gasoline and the fire extinguishers. All you have to do is bring Susan.'

Michael gingerly rubbed his throat. ‘I'll never forgive you for bringing this on us, you know that.'

‘I didn't bring it on you. It was Susan who approached
me
, remember?'

‘So what are you trying to tell me? That it was
our
fault?'

‘No … I'm just saying that fate moves in very logical ways, and that maybe Susan was
meant
to approach me. It could be the answer to her problems, as well as ours.'

Michael went into a spasm of coughing. When he had finished, he said, ‘Let me tell you one thing, Mr Rook. If this goes wrong – if anything happens to Susan – then you won't just have the Swimmer to watch out for. You'll have me, too.'

M
ervyn said, ‘This is incredibly risky. You could burn the whole building down to the ground.'

‘I don't think we have any alternative,' said Jim, as he carried two two-gallon cans of gasoline into the bathroom and set them down beside the washbasin.

‘Can't you do it outside? By a lake? By a pond? By the sea, even?'

‘Too much water there. Water gives the Swimmer strength. We wouldn't be able to produce enough fire to overwhelm it.'

‘Well I'm warning you, Jim, if anything happens to my apartment … I've got some very precious stuff in there, quite apart from
moi
.' Mervyn was wearing a black-leather biker's jacket, a short red skirt and fishnet stockings, and Judy Garland-type ruby slippers. He was carrying Tibbles Two under one arm, so that her legs dangled, and it was obvious from the expression on TT's face that she was mortified.

‘You really shouldn't carry her around like that,' Jim remarked. ‘She's not a purse.'

Mervyn tickled the top of TT's head. ‘I know … but she's such a darling. She and I are going to get on
famously
, aren't we, Tibbles? Don't you love your new daddy, then, sweetcheeks?'

Jim took a final look around the apartment. All of the cardboard boxes containing his books, clothes and sound equipment were pushed well away from the bathroom door, right on the opposite side of the room. Most of the furniture was stacked in the bedroom, including his blue-painted rocking horse and his half-packed statue of Hanuman the ape-god. He had managed to borrow three red-painted fire extinguishers from college, and they were resting against the wall where he could quickly reach them if the flames got out of control.

It was almost nine o'clock. Three times three. There was a knock at the door and Washington came in, wearing a black T-shirt and black jeans, followed by Laura, who was dressed all in white, with a white silk scarf tied around her head.

‘Susan not here yet?' asked Washington.

‘She called about ten minutes ago. She's on her way.'

‘I wish you could think of some other way of doing this,' said Mervyn. He tried to change TT from one arm to the other, but TT took advantage of him loosening his grip and struggled herself free. ‘Ow, you beastly creature, you scratched me! There's cats for you – same as women, no gratitude.'

Laura said, ‘I tried to find out more about Swimmers, but I pretty much drew a blank. There's a mention of them on one of those urban-legend websites, but it doesn't tell you anything we don't already know.'

Jim put his arm around her shoulders. ‘If there's one thing I've learned about dealing with supernatural threats, Laura, it's that you have to play it as it comes. It's no use relying on myth or legend or anecdotal accounts. Each spirit is an individual, and each spirit is looking for something different, even if it's nothing more than frightening the pants off the people they left behind.'

‘How about a cup of coffee while we're waiting?' Mervyn suggested.

‘No – I don't want any water in here apart from the water in the bathtub. I've tightened up all of the faucets with a spanner and I've strapped down the lid of the toilet with packing tape. I've even emptied out TT's water bowl.'

They waited a few minutes more and then Jennie appeared, followed by Susan and Michael. Jennie was wearing a simple black dress with a black pearl necklace. Susan was dressed in a padded jerkin of dark crimson velvet that made her look like a medieval page-boy, and black leggings. Michael was out of his Medlar Tree ensemble, and wearing a sweatshirt and tatty embroidered jeans. His neck and one side of his face were still red from where the water-hand had tried to strangle him.

‘Well, this is it,' said Jim. ‘We're all here, so we might as well get started. Nine o'clock is supposed to be an auspicious time for spirits, isn't it?'

‘For
vengeful
spirits, yes,' Susan agreed. ‘Are you going to show me your bathroom? I need to make sure that we can do this safely.'

Jim took her into the bathroom. It was small and L-shaped, with the tub on the left-hand side and the washbasin opposite, in the alcove. There was a small high window with a stained-glass fleur-de-lis in it.

‘Can that window be opened?' she asked.

Jim shook his head. ‘You don't think the Swimmer could get out of
there
, do you?'

‘You never know. You have to take all the precautions you can think of, and then some. If we summon this spirit today, and don't succeed in getting rid of her for good, then the likelihood is that she's going to come after us, only ten times more vengeful than she was before. Like I explained to you, spirits usually feel resentful because they think we've forgotten them – because they feel we don't love them any more. On top of that, if they get the idea that we actively want to get rid of them … well, that's trouble with an upper-case T.'

‘What do you want to do?' Jim asked her. ‘You don't need us to sit around a table or anything, do you?'

‘No, that's not necessary. Besides, there isn't enough space. All we have to do is fill the tub with water. Then we'll stand around it and hold hands together to increase the strength of our spiritual link. I'll be able to talk to the spirit even before she appears … but of course I won't be able to see her. Only you can do that, Jim.

‘We're counting on her entering the water and taking on the shape of the Swimmer. The instant she comes out of the bath, Michael and Washington will pour gasoline on top of her.'

‘Just one hefty splash,' Jim warned them. ‘We don't want to blow up the whole apartment building.'