The Haunting at Grays Harbor (The River Book 8) (20 page)

“You’re like an ostrich,” Steven said. “Burying your head in
the sand! It won’t kill you to at least walk up there and see what we’re
dealing with.”

Roy opened his eyes and looked as though he was going to
explode. Steven had seen his father angry before, but not this angry.

“Maynard, would you let me speak to my son, alone?” Roy asked
through gritted teeth.

“Uh, sure,” Maynard said, rising up from the comfortable
chair he’d just situated himself in moments before. “I’ll go up to my room for
a while. Come find me if there’s more action.” He walked off the porch and they
heard him enter the breezeway before the remarkable sound dampening qualities
of Eximere swallowed up his exit.

“What makes you think I could have resisted that, either?”
Roy said, still angry. “Why would I want that temptation dangled in front of
me? One of the nice things about being my age is that I know myself pretty
well. If you force me to go up there, and I see certain things in that access
point, I’m likely to jump right through. Is that what you want?”

Steven wasn’t sure how he had expected his father to react,
but this wasn’t it. “No, I don’t want that.”

“Then leave me be and respect my wishes on this,” Roy said.
“I know you want to do it. You say it’s to hunt down Unser, or to close the
access point, but it’s not. It’s because you think you can see your son again.
I admit I was wrong about Michael and Jurgen. You were right, they had to be
stopped, and leaving them alive was a bad idea. But this is different. You
won’t stop Unser if you go to the Dark River. You’ll just get swallowed up by
it,” he said. Steven saw moisture forming in his eyes. “You’ll be gone. Just
like him. You’ll never come back. And I’ll go to my grave without my grandson
or my son.”

Roy pressed his lips together and looked away.

 Steven stammered for something to say. Roy was the most
stoic man he’d ever known. He hadn’t cried at the officers’ funeral, and he
didn’t recall seeing him cry over Jason. Even at his mother’s funeral, Roy had
held up. Seeing him upset, now, was disarming.

“Dad,” Steven said, kneeling down next to the chair Roy was
sitting in, “are you sure you can live with it, as it is? That giant thing,
sitting up there, above our heads, just hanging there? Waiting?”

“I’m not scared of it,” Roy said, not turning to look at him.
“I’m far more scared of you. Of what you might do in the middle of the night.
You’ll remember seeing Jason up there, and you’ll lose it, you’ll walk right up
those stairs and let it take you. What a mistake I’ve made!”

“Mistake?”

“Not raising you to be scared of it, like my dad did with me.
You don’t have the fear of it that you should have. You think it’s some happy
place where Jason is waiting to talk to you and say, ‘no problem, Dad.’  You
don’t see the price you’d pay for that.”

“Dad,” Steven said. “If it matters this much to you, fine, I
promise you I won’t pursue it.”

Roy turned to look at him, wiping moisture from his eyes with
the back of his hand. “You give me your solemn oath?”

“I do,” Steven said, smiling at his father and reaching out
to grab the arm of Roy’s chair. “I won’t pursue it. I’ll move the wardrobe back
into place and nail it to the wall, if you want.”

Roy laughed. “OK, you do that,” he said, reaching out to pat
his son’s hand. “You do that. But I will hold you to this promise, son. You can
never break it, alright?”

“Alright,” Steven said.

Roy stood, and Steven stood up with him. Then Steven threw
his arms around his father and hugged him. Roy seemed surprised by the hug,
freezing up momentarily. Then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around his son.

“If I went there,” Steven said, “I may get to see Jason
again, but I’d lose you. I can’t stand the idea of losing you.”

“Thank you, son,” Roy said, patting him on the back. “Thank
you.”

◊

Steven had tried to sleep for hours, but it was fitful. He’d
drift off for a little while, then he’d wake up, and he felt as though he’d
been trying to force himself to sleep for a long time.

Second night in a row,
he thought.
Maybe I should just wake up and read
for a while.

He sat up in bed, reached over to the light on the
nightstand, and clicked it on.

He jumped when he suddenly realized he wasn’t alone in his
room. There was a figure standing at the foot of his bed. It was faint, and he
could see through it to the wall and furniture on the other side.

Steven unconsciously pulled the covers around him.

The figure was slowly materializing as it drifted around the
corner of the bed. It stopped when it reached the side. Steven strained to make
out details of the figure, but not enough of the entity had formed.

Then he saw the axe handle, and the blade, buried in the
chest of the figure. He knew who it was.

Jason?
he asked.

The features on the figure’s face began to clear, and Steven
saw the eyes of his son, looking down at him.

Am I dreaming?
Steven wondered.

No, we’re in the River,
Jason replied.

Steven felt a warmth pass through him as he saw his son’s
animated features, moving, talking, looking at him. He wanted to reach out, but
he knew there was nothing to touch.

I thought you might have crossed over,
Steven said.

I did,
Jason said.
I hung around a few days after it happened. Was shocked
to find out about this place when you buried me here. I picked up on most of
the details. After a couple of weeks, I moved on.

But you’re back now,
Steven said, the warmth he’d felt earlier dissipating as he
realized someone else was with Jason. Someone was hanging back, several feet
behind his son.

They brought me back,
Jason said, smiling weakly.
I didn’t really want to come.

They?
Steven asked.

He told me his name is Yann. He’s a Ripper. I’m supposed to
tell you that you have nothing to worry about. The access point will stay
closed; they have no interest in it. And you can do whatever you want with
Eximere, as long as you make sure the projects in the basement stay secure and
running. If the vortex deteriorates again, they want you to fix it.

Steven’s head was swirling.
As glad as I am to see you
again, who is Yann? Why doesn’t he just show himself?

Two reasons, from what I can tell,
Jason said.
They think you’re
more likely to go along with things if I present them to you rather than they
talk to you directly. That’s why they pulled me from the other side. I think it
makes sense because of reason number two, which is how disgusting they look. I
think Yann must be fifty percent worms and maggots. Some of them fall off while
he’s talking to you. It’s hugely distracting and disturbing. So I’m guessing that’s
why.

Steven smiled at Jason’s description of Yann, even though he
found it disturbing.
This Yann, is that who’s behind you now?

Yes, that’s him,
Jason said.
He told me he won’t be talking to you. He’s
just observing.

And what about Unser?

Who’s that?
Jason asked.

The man who built this place,
Steven replied.
He’s behind all
of it. What’s his interest in all this?

I don’t know,
Jason said.
Yann didn’t say anything about Unser. Hold on
a second, Dad…

Jason turned from Steven, twisting his head to look back at
the shadow behind him, having some kind of conversation that Steven couldn’t
hear. He looked at his son, saw the stretching of the tendons in his neck, and
his shoulders and arms, and it seemed so real to him. He knew those same
tendons and arms were rotting in the ground, under the banyan tree outside; but
here, in his bedroom, Jason’s figure faintly luminescent, they looked perfect,
vital — alive.

Jason turned back.
He won’t tell me anything about Unser,
Jason said.
He just told me the same thing to tell you, again. About keeping
the place running in exchange for the access point staying closed.

And what if I refuse?
Steven asked, knowing he wouldn’t, but wanting to see what
type of game the figure who’d resurrected his son was playing.

Then there might be a third reason they chose me,
Jason said, offering a weak smile.
If
they could pull me back from the other side, I presume they have other tricks they
could pull.

I should never have buried you here,
Steven said.
We didn’t know all
this about Eximere when we had to make that decision. If I could make it again,
you’d be buried in some peaceful forest somewhere.

They’re not using me because I’m buried here,
Jason said.
They’re using me
because they know it’s a big deal to you. My death. You could have buried me in
China and they’d still be using me. They got it from your head, when you looked
into the access point and saw me.

Jason, I’m sorry, you know,
Steven said.
So sorry. You must know I never
intended to do it.

What?
Jason asked. He looked down at the axe in his chest.
This? I know. I
knew when I looked up from the bed it wasn’t you. I know what happened.

You had your whole life ahead of you, and I cut it short.

That crazy guy in Diablo cut it short,
Jason said.
Not you. And if you
know what’s best for you and Grandpa, you’ll stop feeling guilty over it and
move on. I have. They’ll just keep using the guilt against you if you don’t.

It’s easy to say,
Steven said, smiling at his son.
You don’t know how it
feels.

If it’ll help, I forgive you,
Jason said.

Steven began to cry.

The sooner you forgive yourself,
Jason continued,
the less likely
they are to pull me from the other side to relay messages.

Then I wouldn’t get to see you anymore,
Steven said.

Honestly, I’d rather stay crossed over, Dad,
Jason said.
Trust me, I’m totally
fine there. You don’t have to worry about me.

Steven looked at Jason, knowing he’d have to heed his son’s
advice, for his sake. Looking at his boy made him sob once again, knowing a
goodbye was coming. He wanted to delay it as long as possible.

Should I go with their plan?
Steven asked him.
Become a caretaker
of this place? Keep Unser’s machines going?

I don’t know,
Jason said.
From what I can tell, this side of things is
much more pleasant than wherever they’re from, if that helps.

They’re in a place called the Dark River,
Steven said.
Your grandfather
considers it off-limits.

Well, if Yann was normal looking once, he sure isn’t now.
Bits of him drip and drool off. If being there causes that, I’d say yeah, make
sure the access point stays closed. Or you could just abandon the place.

I can’t,
Steven said.
Not with you buried here.

Dig me up,
Jason said.
Move me. I don’t care.

Eliza said you’d say that,
Steven replied, smiling.

I wish I could do more to help you,
Jason said.
I really don’t know
much more than I’ve already told you. I don’t know if you can trust these
people, and I don’t know if you should stay here. It’s up to you.

Tell them I’ll think about it,
Steven said.
If I move your body,
that means it’s a “no.” And tell them if anything else happens to you, and they
don’t leave you alone on the other side, we’re through. If they pull you back
again, they’ll have made an enemy for life, and I’ll make sure they have all
kinds of trouble with this place. Make sure they know.

OK Dad, I’ll tell them,
Jason said, smiling.
It was nice to talk to you
again, though. I do miss you. Tell Grandpa Roy hi for me, will you?

I will,
Steven said, sensing the goodbye was imminent. Jason’s features were
fading, becoming indistinct like they had appeared before he’d seen the axe
handle.
I love you son.

Love you too,
Dad.

He was gone.

◊

Steven could hear Roy and Maynard laughing well before he
reached the kitchen, which meant they were really going at it. When Steven
walked into the kitchen, he could see his father was showing Maynard the book Roy
had discovered. Maynard was red from laughing.