Realization hit hard and terror gripped Kimberly’s heart. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself to her feet.
“What’s wrong?” Michael asked.
She steadied herself against Sterling’s arm. “Ruth, Daniel, take Faith outside.”
They looked at her as if she’d sprouted a second head and started speaking Japanese.
“Go! Now! Out!” She pushed Sterling toward the confused family. “Go with them. Make sure they get her outside.”
Ozone shot through the air, sulfur following like the smell of gunpowder after a shot. An electric jolt ran up her spine.
Ruth’s and Daniel’s mouths dropped open as they stared at something behind her.
“Not again,” Faith whimpered.
“What’s happening?” Rebecca asked. “What is that?”
Sterling paused to see what caught their attention. His eyes widened and he shook his head as if to clear it. “What is that?”
She locked eyes with him, and, remembering his reaction to the little girl’s spirit, knew this would be more than he could handle. “Get them out of here. Please.”
Sterling shifted his focus to the terrified parents. “Let’s go. Come on.”
Clutching Faith, Daniel tore out of the room, Sterling right behind him.
Kimberly grasped her quartz and slowly pivoted to face the looming threat.
A crack opened in the closet. A decaying hand, followed by a skeletal arm, stretched from the gap, elongated to an unnatural length, and swiped at Daniel as he disappeared from the room.
“Don’t stop until you get her outside,” Kimberly called after them. “I don’t care what you think you see or hear!”
James’ hideous form followed, bloated, rotting, no longer fully human. One foot, then another followed through the portal.
She wouldn’t get close enough to touch the vile thing in front of her. But James broadcast his inner self so clearly, she knew exactly what had happened and what drove his actions.
“It’s the Devil,” Ruth whispered, hands clasped.
“No. This isn’t the Devil, though I suspect he’s seen something that could pass for him. It’s James’ spirit in his warped form, a fully corrupted soul, eaten up by hate and envy and desire. Evil destroys anyone who allows it in. And James welcomed it—the promises of power, wealth, status, and a whole new life. And all he wanted in return was your soul, didn’t he, James?”
James’ head swiveled to face her, arm retracting to roughly normal length. Black eyes bore into her, plumbing to test her mettle. “Kimberly Wantland.”
“In the flesh. Which you no longer possess. Your energy in the living world won’t last, James. And I won’t let you steal Faith again.”
“Faith will join me. The youngest of my false heirs will be my companion in the next life.”
Ruth moaned and crumpled against the desk.
“That will never happen. You don’t belong here, and she doesn’t belong there. You can’t elude justice forever. You will pay for your crimes.”
“No. My false heirs are the ones who will pay. Faith will be mine. You will join me too. Me and your mother.” He gestured toward the closet, to the crack in time and space.
Her mother’s image peered at her from beyond, the warm smile beckoning her to come, to find peace, to let go the fight.
All the strength drained out of her. She bent forward, collapsing like a deflated balloon, catching herself on her knees. Defeated.
James moved across the room, staring down each person in her crew and then Ruth, until they trembled in terror, homogenized with fear.
He turned back to face her again, curling his face directly in front of her like a viper threatening to strike. Her diaphragm quivered, but she couldn’t draw a breath.
“Why do you linger, when your mother waits for you?”
She tried to wrench her gaze from his, hoping for a reassuring glance to the portal, but his soulless black eyes held her trapped.
He can’t hurt you. He can’t hurt you.
He seemed to stare directly into her very soul.
“Oh, I can hurt you. And you can’t stop me.” Faster than a blink, he crossed the room to the window. He opened his putrid mouth and bellowed, then stretched forward, diving outside while his feet remained on the floor, like a grotesque slinky tumbling down stairs.
A collective gasp preceded silence—the first silence she’d heard all day.
She roused herself from the stupor she’d fallen into under James’ draining influence. Somehow, he’d managed to leave the confines of the house, perhaps as she had forced her way into the Nightshade. She had to keep him away from Faith and force him to cross over. Nothing else would stop him.
Screams punctured the air, arrows of confusion and horror shot at the monster descending from the house. She dragged herself across the room on wobbly legs. The angry mob members scattered like ants prodded with a stick. While a few of them held cameras, presumably recording the bizarre scene unfolding before them, the majority ran, dove into cars, and drove away.
Zeke turned in circles, commanding his followers, arms waving. “Stand firm in the face of evil! Kimberly Wantland has wrought this demon upon us, and we must fight to the end!”
She took no pleasure in anyone’s suffering, yet couldn’t help but note the irony when one of his own supporters barreled into him and knocked him to the ground. Hard.
And yet Zeke remained undaunted, calling for them to storm the house and end this once and for all.
She saw Sterling leave Daniel’s side and face off with Zeke. “Shut your idiotic mouth!”
Sterling’s clenched fists looked ready to swing. Before the situation escalated further, James leaned lower and roared into Zeke’s face.
Zeke scrambled to his feet and ran, shoving through what remained of the crowd.
The prayer group had encircled Faith. Each woman lifted high a cross and sang, harmonizing together as they protected the little girl.
James drifted closer to them.
She saw Daniel shake, clutching Faith to his chest, saw sweat soak his shirt as it dripped from his brow. And yet James moved no closer. He hesitated.
Was he confused? Did the crosses and prayers actually deflect him? She couldn’t be certain. But regardless of the reason, his distraction gave her the opportunity she needed. He was correct—she couldn’t stop him. Not alone. But she knew who could help.
“Michael, now. Switch it on.”
He blinked. “What?”
James threw his head back and snarled. She didn’t know how long the prayer group could hold him off.
“Turn on the SEEPS! Now!”
He flipped the switch. The black box buzzed to life. Crackling arcs of electricity sizzled across the wires that spanned the top of the box.
“Keep it around the midpoint,” she told Michael. “We don’t want to open it up full throttle.”
Michael turned a dial, and the indicator stopped gyrating, settling midrange.
Shadows oozed from the walls, ink blot hands and arms stretched from the beyond. But this time the spirits drew from the SEEPS, forming into fully corporeal apparitions. Bodies appeared at the end of the arms.
Ghosts who had wandered the home for decades, either lost or keeping an eye on their descendants, manifested to protect their own. Kimberly watched as they fully materialized and nodded to her in thanks. A Native American gentleman stood before her.
“George?” she guessed.
He tipped his head at her.
“I saw what happened to you. I’m so sorry. James is still hurting people. I tried to stop him, but I need your help.”
George squared his shoulders.
“Mom?” Ruth spoke in a hushed tone, as if unable to believe what she saw.
Kimberly turned and saw an older woman patting Ruth’s cheek.
Tears filled Ruth’s eyes. “Mom, I miss you so much.”
Shouts outside caught her attention. She ran back to the window—just in time to see Faith run up the stairs and back into the house, Daniel and Sterling chasing after her.
No! While she’d been distracted by the other ghosts, James had rallied.
She whirled back to George. “Can you help? Will you fight him?”
George nodded.
Faith appeared in the doorway, glazed over, as if sleepwalking.
“Faith!” Ruth ran to embrace the girl, but Faith brushed her aside. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“She’s under James’ influence again!”
Daniel and Sterling burst into the room as Faith plodded relentlessly toward James, who had retracted back inside and returned to a somewhat human shape.
“Please!” Kimberly called to the ghosts. “If you can help me stop him, do it now!”
She gathered every last bit of energy, reaching into a reserve she didn’t realize she possessed. Grasping her quartz, she directed all her psychic energy to her indigo chakra and aimed it at James. She pushed with everything she had.
James stumbled, and she pushed again. And again—driving him toward the closet. If she could corral him and open a rift, she should still be able to force him to cross. Provided she did so quickly, before she had nothing left.
She splintered off a portion of energy and reached out, feeling psychically for the edge of the veil. When the edge of this world softened and warped, she concentrated, pressing harder until a fissure cracked open. Electric blue light poured into the room.
Utterly spent, she returned her attention to James. To her relief, she discovered George and Alta each held an arm, keeping him away from Faith. They both saw the opened crack and nodded. They seemed to understand her plan. Other spirits in the room closed in and laid hands on James as well.
James screamed as he realized the blue portal waited for him. He would no longer linger in the Nightshade. They were taking him to the Afterlife, to judgement and hopefully to justice. Kimberly didn’t know what waited after this world, but she truly hoped he would get what he deserved.
She psyched herself up and pushed James, the hardest she’d pushed yet. The spirits pulled as she pushed, dragging James kicking and screaming to his waiting fate.
She gave one last shove then collapsed, completely spent. Looking up from all fours, she silently implored the ghosts of the family’s past to finish what she’d begun.
They clustered around James, overwhelming him, pushing and dragging him toward the light though he continued to thrash and twist, fighting to stay in this world.
Kimberly sighed with relief. It was over. James couldn’t hurt anyone ever again.
Before she knew what was happening, James wrenched one arm free. It shot past her and grabbed Faith.
“No!” She lurched forward, grabbing the girl as James continued to be dragged closer to the portal by the other spirits. He could not take Faith with him. No living body could cross the veil. And if her soul crossed, her body would cease to live.
A whooshing filled her ears along with Faith’s screams, Ruth’s cries, James’ indignant fury, Snickers’ barks. Time seemed to stop as she watched the portal draw closer and closer. She wouldn’t let go of the girl, no matter what happened. She couldn’t. And yet she couldn’t tell the ghosts to stop. She had to finish what she’d started.
Snickers lunged forward and grabbed her pants’ leg in his teeth. The dog dug in his heels. He had the right idea. But wasn’t strong enough to stop her completely.
Still she drew closer. Nothing stopped her slow approach. James seemed determined to inflict one more heart-wrenching injury before leaving this world behind.
Her muscles began to quiver. Her strength waned.
The spirits surrounding James paused and looked to her for guidance. Continue on and risk taking Faith with them? Or leave James to continue terrorizing the family? Faith would be sick forever, tormented for something she played no part in creating.
Neither option was good.
Faith slipped from her grip. She fell to her knees, nothing left. She looked to Ruth, but the woman seemed too shocked to move.
She’d failed.
Sterling knelt in front of her. “I don’t know what’s happening here,” he yelled over the whistling vortex cycling in the closet. “I know you’re not asking me to prove my faith, so I give it to you freely. I may not fully believe in ghosts, but I completely believe in you!”
He grabbed both sides of her face and pressed his lips to hers, crushing her in a kiss so fierce it took her breath away.
Warmth flushed her skin. His energy transferred over her lips and flooded through her body. She drew his strength to her core and rose to her feet.
Clasping Sterling’s hand, she faced the vortex. “Don’t let go.”
He squeezed her hand. “Never.”
She walked toward the shining blue portal. White orbs danced across the opening, a sparkling, glittering backdrop to the horror wedged between this world and the next. James remained on this side of the portal, grappling with a still-struggling Faith.
The girl managed to grasp Kimberly’s outstretched arm with both hands.
She gulped in huge lungsful of air. Drawing on her fresh influx of energy, she psyched herself up and pulled.
Faith held tight. But so did James. The girl gave a swift kick straight to his face.
James howled in fury as Faith slid closer to Kimberly. But still he held on.
She turned to Ruth, watching as if in disbelief. “Ruth! Help me! Fight for her! Fight for Faith!”
With a nod, Ruth latched on and pulled, turning the tide in their favor.
James grip slipped again. He barely held Faith by the ankles. She knew she could do this. Using Sterling’s grip as an anchor, she pulled with all her might, whipping Faith into Ruth. The two crashed backward.
Ruth collapsed to the floor, sobbing, holding her daughter.
One of the orbs moved closer to the portal opening and materialized into a relatively human form.
Rebecca, she knew before the whispered name escaped from James’ lips. She recognized the steely strength, the kind heart, and compassionate spirit. The spirit collected into a semblance of its former shell, and she recognized the gentle eyes passed down through generations, now alive in Ruth, Rebecca, and Faith.
“George,” she said as she caught sight of her love. She reached out a hand. “I’ve been waiting for you. Come home.”
George cast one look around then stepped through. A dazzling flash of white light burst from the portal as he left this world for the next. Kimberly hoped with every fiber of her being that the two would now enjoy eternity together, making up for the time they were denied in this life.
Alta waved to Ruth, then followed George. The ghosts continued, one after another, crossing through the portal to the Afterlife.
Rebecca’s gentle eyes flashed and filled with a stormy fury. “You’ve hurt my family too long, James. You’ll never cause another woman misery.”
Rebecca’s spirit reached out from beyond and grabbed him.
James screamed as she dragged him to the portal.
Kimberly relaxed and breathed deeply. Faith was safe. She turned to find Sterling watching the entire scene, mouth hanging open.
A hand closed around her wrist. She whirled to face James, now clutching her, his bony fingers digging into her skin.
He pulled her along with him. She watched him disappear as if sinking into a gelatin mold, watched the portal with its shimmering electric light glimmer before her.
She struggled, but her strength was sapped. She thought she heard shouts around her, but the noise from the vortex drowned out everything.
And yet, the closer she drew to the portal, the less fear she felt. Intense relief washed over her, along with a warmth that seemed to emanate from inside her. Her chest swelled with love and comfort. She had nothing to fear. She was going to a better place. She closed her eyes, and prepared to cross, knowing everything would be okay.
A hand took hers—soft and tender, nothing like James’ harsh touch. The hand squeezed hers, then pushed her away from the light.
Not yet. It’s not your time.
Lavender and freesia surrounded her, enveloped her in comforting embrace.
“Mom?”
No reply followed, but she fell backward, landing hard on her butt. She sat up, eager for a glimpse into the next life, perhaps even of her mother.
With a scream of agony, James finally crossed over. A flash of red light accompanied him, along with a momentary burst of howls of anguish. The rift snapped closed.
He was gone. For good.