TWO SOULS: INTO THE FIRE ... # 219

TWO SOULS: INTO THE FIRE
# 219
warning...adult content



~
When Steve finished cleaning himself up in the bathroom, he was hungry. Going into the kitchen, he saw that the breakfast Ghost had cooked, was done, and on the table, but Ghost wasn't there.

"Ghost, where'd ya go?" he asked, looking around.

"I'm in here," Ghost said, from the living room.

Steve finally saw him, standing behind the long curtains, looking out the window. He had his coffee with him, and was sipping it.

"What 'cha see?" Steve asked.

"Nothing, so far. I want to go out front like always, but is it ok...like safe, now? Or, is something creepy gonna jump out?"

"Let me get some coffee, and we'll go out together, ok?"

When he got back to the living room, Steve opened the wooden door. They paused before opening the screen. A cold burst of air hit them, making them shiver, but it did refresh them.

"This is ridiculous, ya know?" Steve said.

"Yeah, but it's still scary."

Steve sighed. "So, ok...I'll open the screen, and we'll wait a second before we go out. Ready?"

"Uh-huh," Ghost said, nodding his head, and standing close behind Steve.

Steve slowly pushed open the screen door, and stepped out onto the porch. "So far, so good," he said.

Ghost amped up his senses to feel out the atmosphere...good or bad. "It feels fine out here," he said, as he sat on the swing.

Steve leaned on the railing, scanning the driveway and woods. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Spirit pounced around at dry leaves, and seemed happy enough...not scared or puffed up. They all relaxed for a little while.

"Are we gonna go out back," Ghost asked.

"No, we're not...it's dead to us, now," Steve said.

"Never, ever again? That's sad, and not right."

"Well, at least for now we're not. We're not going to crumble with fear for long. They, whoever they are, aren't gonna chase us away by doing stupid coffin tricks. No way...but, later on, like in a day or two, we'll go out there and see what's what, ok?" Steve said. "We just have to prepare ourselves, arm ourselves..."

Ghost frowned. "Arms...ya mean our guns?"

"Yeah, and salt and holy water, and crosses, and garlic, and words, and...well, everything," Steve said. "Oh, and you need to burn your sage brooms. Wave 'em around out there."

"Yeah, I can do that."

Steve nodded. "And get your camera to take pictures for proof."

"Ok, it's like solving a mystery, huh? That's kinda cool, and not scary."

"That's right. When we get our minds to think of it like that, it has no power over us. We'll put an end to their shenanigans," Steve said.

Ghost giggled at the word. "That's good."

Steve smiled. "Ok then, we have a plan. Let's go eat." They went inside and enjoyed their breakfast.

Steve did pose another suggestion. "Ya know what? After we do our plan, I think we need a vacation from this place. A re-set of our traumas, lately."

"A time out? Where?"

"I was thinking we could go to my sister's house in California. We could help get her moved. I'm sure she needs help, and she'd love us to come...she asked already."

"And you can see your other sister, and the kids," Ghost said.

"That's right. What do you think?"

"It sounds good to me," Ghost agreed. "Just, are we gonna drive all that way?"

"Well, we could," Steve said. "Of course it would take a lot of days...or...we could try flying again? I mean, Linda went both ways, and nothing bad happened. I think we could do it, too, don't you?"

"Maybe we could," Ghost said slowly. "Guess we could try it. We did want to try it before, and...ok. I'll be brave if you will."

"Well, there ya go, and it'll be way faster than driving. I think I'll call her, in a little while, to let her know our plans."

They finished eating and doing the dishes. Neither one admitted to wanting to peek out the back window.

~
Settled back in the living room, now, Steve said, "Let's see what all we have to bust this mystery with, ok?"

Ghost jumped up from the couch. "Ok, I'll get my stuff and you get...well...other stuff," he said. He went to his bedroom to rummage around for things to use. He found his silver necklace, and sage brooms. The little bottle of holy water was pretty much empty, but he thought he could refresh it somehow. He found his demon banishing kit, from before, seeing that there were a few things left over. Opening the little packets of herbs and powders, he took a sniff. They seemed ok, if not exactly fresh. Then he read the instruction sheet again, and looked around the bedroom for more things they could use. There were white purity candles over on the dresser, which he put with the other things, to use if needed. Finding nothing else of use in there, he went over to the back storage room.

He didn't like this room. It was always a little creepy back there. The dim light bulb didn't help matters. His grandmother's herbs and potions, what were left of them, still lined the old wooden shelves. The room was pretty much like it had always been before the hurricane. Some things had been ruined on the bottom shelves, but the rest was just fine. He looked at the little cardboard boxes and colored glass vials. They all had obscure instructions on them, written on now yellowing labels. Smelling the stale aroma of long dried herbs, he began to daydream...

He begged to come in here, as a kid, and every so often he was allowed to. It still felt like trespassing, even now, whenever he entered. Strange things happened in this room; he and Steve had both seen things. There were spiders hiding, waiting to jump out and get on him. He shivered. Was his grandmother really a witch, like some people claimed? He didn't think so, but there sure were a lot of witchy like things in here.

He sighed, then sneezed from the dust particles. Looking closer at the labels, he had no idea if any of them would work on whatever it was that was harassing them now. One said 'removes curses', so he took it, to add to their arsenal. Another bottle had a skull and crossed bones, and the words 'poison - use only in case of infestations'.  He wrinkled his nose, but took it, too. As he continued to look around, he could hear Steve out in the living room, making strange clanking noises.

"Hey, Ghost...come on out...we probably got enough stuff now," Steve hollered.

"Ok, just a minute," Ghost yelled back. He saw an empty box on a shelf, so pulled it out. Just as he did, a small leather notebook fell to the floor. He picked it up and flipped through the pages. He'd never seen it before, but it was his grandmother's handwriting filling the pages. Wanting to read it, he put it in the box with his other chosen items.

~
Next part coming soon!



Peace, Love, & Writing