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ON SATURDAY, WE GATHERED dutifully at Astrid’s office, and home for that matter, by one-fifteen to wait for Moss and Hernandez to show up. Ferris and I came together while Orielle met us there, arriving a few minutes after we did. Ever the gracious hostess, Astrid had tea and cakes out for refreshments. Maybe she thought it would smooth things over with the detectives. I thought it curious that Moss would willingly work on the weekend when this could have waited until Monday. Even odder when you considered he’d volunteered Hernandez as well. I was grateful though. I didn’t need to take another day off work.
We settled in at the round table and waited. Astrid spoke first, saying, “The yiaiwa you blasted, was that a regular one or one of the stronger ones.”
“I dunno,” I replied. “It’s hard to tell from a distance. The true ones are bigger and more aggressive. But it sure slammed into the barrier without hesitation and made it through, even if it was moving slowly. So much for the safety of that.”
“Obviously, a cemetery, even if consecrated, isn’t a deterrent to them,” Ferris added.
“No, it is not,” Orielle replied at once. “Even Holy Water is uncertain with these. It should stop them or at least slow them, but that may be all we can expect.”
“Great. So how do we defeat them?” I asked. I felt more gloomy today than yesterday. The ghoulish creatures had made a farce out of Janna’s funeral, which burned me to the core. I couldn’t even properly offer my goodbyes because of them.
Orielle shrugged. “That is what we are trying to figure out, isn’t it? There has to be a key somewhere.”
Astrid rolled her eyes toward the roof and said, “Or possibly someone is the key.”
“Don’t put that on me,” I spat back. I was not going to be saddled with this by myself.
“Put what on you?” Moss asked as he came in the door, apparently catching the end of the remarks.
Hernandez followed him in, both looking more casual than usual in jeans and sweatshirts. Astrid promptly welcomed them, offering the refreshments and pointing to the two empty seats as if they couldn’t find them.
I introduced Hernandez to Orielle and Astrid, then raised an eyebrow at Moss. This was his rodeo, so up to him to start. He took his time, taking a bite out of the little cake and washing it down with tea.
“All right. I definitely saw a couple of things at the funeral yesterday. More specifically at the graveside part of the service. First, I saw you...” He paused and pointed at Astrid, then went on, pointing at Orielle, “you... and you...” He pointed at me last, and continued, “...pacing out big circles while carrying candles. Want to tell us about that?”
I shifted my gaze to Astrid. It was her plan so she could best explain it. She nodded, rose, went to the bookcase on the far side of the curtained doorway, and picked up three candles from the middle shelf. Bringing them back, she set them on the table.
“These are the candles we burned yesterday. If you take a whiff, you will be able to tell they are wax infused with incense oils. The oils have protective qualities in the spirit world.”
Moss picked one up and sniffed, his forehead wrinkling at the odor. He handed it on to Hernandez and picked up the second one. He looked thoughtful as he inhaled the scent while Hernandez seemed to be puzzling over the fragrance attached to the first.
“Okay, you have incense infused candles. Why?”
“You might have noticed a similar fragrance in the church,” Astrid replied. “Gillian and I feared that...evil spirits...might attempt to enter the church during the services, and we wanted to block the possibility. It is more difficult to prevent an intrusion in a large open area, such as the gravesite at the cemetery. The candles and the...ritual, if you will, that we performed by pacing out the circles was an attempt to set up a wall of protection around the place.”
Moss shot a raised-eyebrow skeptical look at Hernandez, who chose that moment to glance out the window. “So you expected trouble,” Moss summarized.
We all nodded, even Orielle.
“And you went along with this, Dr. Chour?”
Orielle straightened her shoulders, sitting up a little higher, and taking on an official look. “I am an anthropologist, detective. In my line of work and my studies, I have encountered many odd and seemingly supernatural events and occurrences. I am familiar with protection spells. At the very least, they are harmless. At their best, they can save a life. Therefore, I saw no harm in trying to protect the area. As you might have seen, there was a danger.”
“I’m getting to that,” Moss said a bit sharply. “That was the second thing. During the service, I saw Ms. Foster and Mrs. Panello practically run to the location of the perimeter of the circles and abruptly, a dark blob of a shadowy thing seemed to be hovering outside it and pushing into it. Next thing I know, a blast of white light shoots across the open area between you three...” He pointed toward Orielle, Ferris, and me. “...and the blob and it looked like a splash of fireworks when it hit with a thunderous clap, and the blob vanished. I want to know what that was and what you did.” His intense gaze landed directly on me.
“You do, and you don’t, know what I do,” I started. “Is this off the record?” I looked from his face to Hernandez’ eyes. They both appeared hesitant to confirm it.
“For the moment,” Moss answered at last. “Depends on what you say as to whether it stays that way, but I’ll tell you if the status changes.”
“Okay.” Reassured, I told him everything about the yiaiwa, their function, and their encroachment on earth. I could see he was having a hard time believing me.
Orielle jumped in a couple of times with additional information, official credentials, and opinions from supporters to give more credence to the story. “I realize it sounds fantastic, Detective Moss,” she said in that authoritative voice scientists can employ. “Believe me when I tell you, it is not. There is a breach between the lower plane of existence–Hell, if you wish to call it that—and our world as well as the next level of existence, the transitory plane where Gillian visits. The spirits from Hell are called yiaiwa, and they are after souls. That is what we are battling.”
Moss shifted uncomfortably, telegraphing his skepticism but was having a hard time trying to deny it. Hernandez seemed to accept it easier but still looked uncomfortable. Moss rubbed a hand across his eyes, then took a deep breath. “All right. This is a lot to swallow, but as strange as it sounds, I can’t explain that blob and what happened yesterday. So far as the shooting of your friend, it seems to give more credence to perp’s story, but how do I prove the man was possessed at the time?”
With a sad turn of my mouth, I shrugged uncomfortably. “I can’t produce one on demand, and it’s really not a good idea to have this get out to everyone.”
Suddenly, Hernandez broke into laughter. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say as he settled down to giggles. “This is just so unbelievable– And I do believe you. But it’s like a superhero movie with outlandish villains.”
Moss cracked a smile also. “Yeah, there’s no way we can make an official report on any of this. And I can’t go back and say that Foster blasted someone with a superpower to drive out an evil spirit. To be honest, if I didn’t already know you, Foster, and if I hadn’t seen that thing yesterday, I’d be ready to take you to the psych ward... all of you.”
After a couple of moments, he asked, “But what’s the bottom line here?”
“We are trying to stop them,” Orielle leaned her arms on the table and pressed toward him as she answered. “To seal and secure the access from Hell.”
I could see Moss was having a hard time swallowing the whole demon thing. It was just so far out of his realm of possibility that it sounded like a B-grade movie. “Okay, try to stay out of doing anything illegal, like killing someone because you think they’re possessed. So far as battling them goes, if there’s anything I—” He paused to glance at Hernandez who dipped his head slightly forward. “Anything, we can do to help, you let us know.”
“Bullets don’t exactly work against demons,” I said, my face deadpan.
“Right,” he acknowledged as Hernandez chuckled.
With that, the pair thanked us for our time then left. Through the window, I glimpsed them talking, Moss waving a hand around. I guessed they were trying to figure out what to do with the information we’d given them.
Orielle rose, said her goodbyes, and was on her way as well. Before Ferris and I shrugged our coats on, Astrid asked, “How did the wake go?”
I hesitated. “It could have been better. I’m afraid Mrs. Lewis wasn’t all that happy with our little scene at the cemetery and the incense smell at the chapel. I explained it was a ritual of protection for everyone there so that no evil spirits could enter, but she gave me that glazed-eyed what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about look that she used to cast at Janna when she talked about supernatural things.”
“Yeah,” Ferris chimed in. “She thought we got too theatrical, reminding us it was her daughter’s funeral. We could only apologize that it was too distracting.”
“I told her Janna had once asked me to perform a cleansing ritual if I ever had to do a funeral service for her. That didn’t help. She was appalled that we would even discuss it.” I shrugged my coat the rest of the way on.
“Did you?” Astrid asked.
“Not in reference to her,” I answered. “On the other hand, her dad took it better and told me not to be a stranger. I think he sees some extension of his daughter in me.” I bit my lip to hold back the threatening sob of grief that wanted to spill out.
“We didn’t stay long,” Ferris added. “Just enough to pay our respects and talk to her brothers.” He opened the door for me.
We thanked Astrid for the use of her shop and assured her we’d be in touch again soon. At least, I would.
As Ferris drove us back to my place, he asked, “What happened yesterday? You didn’t appear to transport.”
He’d wisely not said anything until now. “I didn’t. I couldn’t make contact with the other cemetery. It was like I was blocked. Maybe I used the wrong songs. Neither one worked. Or maybe she wasn’t there. She might have gone on through the gate and into the light. She knew the routine. We’d discussed it often enough.”
“Maybe,” he drawled out. “But I can’t imagine Janna not wanting to get the last word. Not wanting to see you one more time.”
“Me neither.” I sighed and gazed out the window. “I don’t know. I miss her so much already. I was counting on seeing her.”
He nodded, saying nothing more.
Although he came in for a hot coffee at my place, he didn’t stay long, which was fine with me. He had things to do; so did I.
I walked out to the curb with him, enjoying his warm embrace along with a lip-melding, tongue-teasing kiss before he climbed in the van and drove off. Without thinking about it, I ran my gaze all around the neighborhood looking for any signs of yiaiwas. My fear of losing another friend was growing daily.
I stopped at the mailbox and pulled out a couple of letters and a package from New Zealand. EllyJ’s token for me to try to contact her. I failed to be as excited about it as I would have been a week earlier. Still, I took hope in what we would be trying as soon as I could concentrate on it again.
Once inside and secure in the house again, I flopped onto the sofa and opened the package to shake out a... gardening glove? I held it up and stared at it seeing the greenish-brown plant stains and embedded dirt. Odd choice. I read the note she’d included:
Gillian, I sent this because it’s half of the pair of my favorite gardening gloves, the ones I use most often to prepare the flowers for the cemetery arrangements. I think they have more emotions attached than anything else I might send you. I hope they work. Let me know when you get it.
Okay, so the glove made sense. I set it down on top of the padded envelope it had arrived in and thought about it. I hesitated to even let Elly know it had made the trip safely since I wasn’t in the mood to do anything with it yet.
Nygard hopped onto the coffee table, sniffed at it before he dismissed the glove, and jumped across to climb in my lap. Content, he snuggled close where the soft rumble of his purr eased the ache in my heart.
Outside, the wind started to blow as a storm began to move into the valley. Tree branches rattled against the house, scraping the windows. If any yiaiwas lingered outside looking for a way in, I hoped the branches would rip them apart, and the wind could blow them far away. Nonetheless, I resolved to reinforce all my wards tonight.
