Present Day
Blake woke up to horrible noises coming from the attic. Holland had, without a doubt, become aware of the girls’ visits to his past. It sounded as though he was moving furniture again, and one peek into the attic confirmed the suspicion.
When Blake threw the door the rest of the way open, the apparition of Holland took on a darker hue. A storm of emotion seemed to swirl around the ghost’s body, and for a moment, Blake was actually frightened.
The girls were right downstairs and he was afraid he wouldn’t know how to protect them without his powers. They’d made a joke of it, but the scary thing was there was truth behind the jest. He had no wings to sweep them off to freedom and no unearthly abilities that could knock the ghost back into the depth of Hell where he belonged.
“Dixie and Emily!” the creature shrieked at the top of his lungs.
“They’re downstairs, Holland. What’s your problem?” Lathan stepped from behind his brother unaware of or not able to concern himself with the danger.
“Get them up here now!” The eyes of the madman morphed from brown to orange to red and Blake laughed.
Not long before he’d been able to pull the same trick, but now he’d been left with nothing except futile human strength. Blake could see Dixie and Emily inching their way up the stairs, their eyes still heavy with sleep. He tried to ward them off by shooing them with a flick of his hand. Of course, he knew better. When had these two girls ever listened? They pushed past Blake and Lathan and faced the man head on.
“You!” Holland seized Dixie by the throat and threw her on the bed. “I will make you pay. What will you do now that your protectors are useless?”
Dixie remained calm despite the obvious distress she was in. “Holland, I can’t talk if you kill me.”
“Kill you? I don’t want to kill you. I just want to watch your face turn blue over and over. You won’t be the first, you know.” Dixie began to kick and claw, but she never seemed to make contact with anything solid.
Blake jumped across the room and tried to issue his own blows, but nothing seemed to bother the ghost. Blake glanced at Lathan, confused and angry. Perhaps his bargain with God wouldn’t have the end he’d imagined. Maybe he’d lose the very girl he’d wanted so much to protect.
Dixie gasped for air as his hands released their hold. The weight of his body, however, remained on her petite frame.
“Stay away from Bindi. She’s mine.” He bent close to Dixie’s face and she seemed to lose consciousness for a moment.
Blake panicked. He couldn’t stand by and watch this… demon take Dixie from him. As he searched the room for a weapon he could use against the ghost, Dixie seemed to regain her wits.
“I’m going to find out what you did, Holland. I’m going to expose you and set Bindi free.” Dixie rebelled against the violence threatening to break from him as she wriggled and attempted to squirm from his grasp.
Blake found himself wishing she would be quiet. But wasn’t this one of the things he’d loved about her? Anyone else would have left the house a long time ago and Bindi would have been tortured forever. Not Dixie, though. She was going to see it through no matter what the cost.
She’d already lost some of the money and time she’d put into the shop. If she didn’t back down or get out soon, she might never get the place up and going again. However, that was what he loved about her, the thing that made her different from all of his other charges. The moment Dixie had realized Bindi was in trouble, she’d committed herself to saving the girl, and Blake had never witnessed such determination.
Out of ideas, Blake threw the light switch, unsure if the ghost was strong enough to keep its form in the light of day. It didn’t matter, because the faint light thrown off by the yellow bulb did little to illuminate the room. The apparition chuckled and then put his hands back around Dixie’s throat.
A cold chill ran up Blake’s spine as he realized he may have to watch this evil man kill Dixie. Holland had already destroyed the room before they’d made it up to see what the fuss was about. As though Lathan was reading his mind, they both hit the floor on their knees and rummaged through the junk.
Emily threw her body on top of Dixie’s and now Holland took turns choking one while the other did her best to fight him off.
“You boys better think of something before I put these girls to sleep forever,” the ghost called over his shoulder, with a huge grin spread across his twisted face. He was obviously delighted by the pain he was inflicting.
Blake was set to give up. He was going to beg Holland to take his life instead of Dixie or Emily’s when Bindi made an appearance. While Holland’s back was turned she grabbed Blake’s hand and yanked the chain from her neck. Quietly, she placed the jewelry in Blake’s palm and offered him a comforting smile.
Without hesitation, Blake understood her meaning. He leaned across the vanity that the apparition had tossed aside and opened the window as Bindi vanished.
“Hey, Holland. Was this Bindi’s? Is this something you want or can I toss it outside where you’ll never have it?” Blake breathed a sigh of relief as he realized his taunts were working on the devil.
Holland dropped the girls and swung around to see Blake dangling the necklace from the window.
“Give it to me!” he demanded.
Blake laughed. “I’ll leave it right here on the chest of drawers for you, but you have to split.”
For a moment, it didn’t look like Holland would take the bait, so Blake let the chain drop until he only held it with his fingertips. He watched the pendant swing like a pendulum for a second, and when he turned around, Holland was gone.
Exasperated, Blake slid down the wall and looked at the girls, who sat hugging on the bed. “You’re not going back.”
Dixie stood and stomped her foot, and Blake knew she was the same girl he’d watched grow up. “You can’t do anything to stop me. We have to free her.”
Blake wanted to argue, but she was right. Bindi needed to be freed, but more than that, he needed to get Lathan’s wings back and make everything right again.
****
Dixie and Emily snuck back to 1844 with Bindi while the boys were asleep. There was an advantage to the two being human for a time. Dixie most enjoyed watching Blake and Lathan eat the first food their bodies demanded. It had been homemade hamburgers Emily had whipped up, and seeing them eat was pure bliss.
After they’d slammed down three burgers each with fries and a gallon of sweet tea, they’d kicked back in the parlor for a nap. The reprieve provided the perfect time for the girls to escape again without them. Blake had made Bindi promise to take them along, but the girls wanted one more chance to gather information without the protective eyes of Lathan and Blake looming over them.