Malia Page 7

  Which, no one mentioned, Jess simply wasn’t doing anything interesting or important at all, most days.

  She simply wasn’t certain that Nick would be doing that kind of thing. It seemed pretty unlikely that he would be, after all. Not that he couldn’t have a hobby, but the odds were against her meeting up with someone that had the same obscure hobby her parents did, the day she’d first heard about it.

  Rather than go into that, she simply went on. There were other questions to be answered, if she wasn’t being made fun of by her parents. In a messed up and cruel way.

  It didn’t seem that way, at least.

  “Okay, so, why wait this long to mention it? I mean, could magic or whatever remove that memory I have? Drugs didn’t work, so…”

  Reid shook his head.

  “We’ve already tried that. Several times, in fact. Carlos, we work with him on this kind of thing, he thinks that it was an imprint left behind on purpose, by Malia. Why, we don’t know.” He looked away and then shook his head, just a little. “It’s possible that she wants to use you as a host, but knew that a small child couldn’t handle that? You survived the event, and being touched that way… Well, it leaves you more prepared, but also more open to that kind of thing in general. Malia was powerful, too, so… Finding a child who could do what you did back then might mean that you’re perfect for the job, now.”

  Except that, as far as she could tell, Malia wasn’t really bothering to come and visit with any real sense of purpose. She showed up, occasionally. Always in the mirror and never for more than a few seconds at a time. That probably meant she was still around, but it wasn’t exactly as if the girl was trying to talk her into letting her in. Not yet, anyway.

  There were still things she didn’t understand about the whole situation. The problem was that she didn’t know what to ask about next. Not really.

  Still, she had one question. A thing that needed to be answered before they went on at all.

  “Why do it at all though? Raise these things and… um, entreat them?”

  Her dad nodded at her, as if it were a great question.

  “Power, mainly. If you can make it work, and ask for the right things, in the right way, life is a lot easier to manage. Riches, political power, even insight for new inventions or creative projects. You could also have your enemies killed, tormented or what have you. It’s worth doing, even if hard sometimes. Rewarding, when you get it right and everything goes smoothly.”

  That didn’t really seem like enough to her, but then, she wasn’t the one doing the batshit insane things, for once, so it didn’t matter if it was, or not.

  Chapter four: Weirdos

  For some reason, Jessica had expected there to be about twenty people that evening, all of them running to help her out with her little magical problem. Instead she got four people, other than her parents. All of whom seemed grumpy, rather than scared or intrigued by the idea at hand. Really, they mainly seemed kind of bored, in regards to her problems.

  Reid shook hands with the men, but the two ladies gave him a hug. At least one of those was a bit more than a hello, too. The other woman was clearly just being friendly, which was strange, given that the skinny gray headed woman was Roxy. The mean one from the movie theater. When she glanced over at Jess her face managed to capture her normal glowering shape. She really did look more or less mean. Angry and like she wanted to kill someone. Nearly seething, without that showing on the outside enough for it to truly be that kind of thing.

  She didn’t speak though, even if it was clear she wanted to snap something nasty sounding out. Jessica could pick that up from ten feet away. It was almost like another presence in the room with them.

  Carlos was a nice, rather even, tan color, which went with the name pretty well, she had to suppose. He was dressed up, in a suit that was better than decent. Not Armani or anything like that, but still something highly tailored. That was mainly about hiding his slightly plump middle, no doubt, but it still worked on him. The other man there seemed like a trucker. He was even wearing a MAGA hat, which had Jess’s mom smirking at him. It didn’t seem to be a gag or anything, either. The man just rolled that way.

  He hugged everyone, who did it back well enough, without it turning into something strange or weird. Then, because it was a night for things to get odd, the Republican trucker moved in and wrapped her up. He at smiled at her in a way that seemed pleased enough to see her.

  “Hey, kid. I haven’t seen you in a coons age! You must have been, what, twelve back then? I’m Rick.”

  Jessica barely recalled the man, but hugged him back, since he wasn’t grabbing her ass or anything. That wasn’t in her memories of him or anything either, meaning he was probably decently safe. It took her a moment to remember that he’d been one of Sheriff Joe’s Deputies. She’d seen him in his uniform once or twice, back in the day.

  “Hey! Are you still in law enforcement?” She didn’t know if that would be a thing, but asking seemed like a polite enough idea. It would show she recognized him, if nothing else.

  The man actually laughed then.

  “I’m the County Sherriff here, so, yes. You know these others? Carlos has been around, of course. This is June and over here we have…” The older woman actually smiled then, so Jessica finished the words for him. Adding a bit.

  Managing not to be a cunt about it.

  “The incredible Roxy? We’ve met. You were at work at the time, so fair enough if you don’t remember me.”

  Rather than have her slapped for being insolent, the words got the older lady to move in and give her a hug then, as well. While frowning, as if she kind of hated Jessica, just for being. It was her normal expression, so not a shock.

  “It’s been a while, though. A few years. Now, is this everyone that could be bothered to come on such short notice? I hear that your mother has been going around outing us all to you all day? If so, I want you to know that it was only that one girl and I was in college. I was experimenting. What can I say?” Her face stayed deadpanned then, as if that were the real issue.

  Jessica just nodded along.

  “I know that’s my plan, when I get off to college. Experimenting where the parents can’t see. With sex anyway. I mean, drugs and delusions aren’t going to mix, so I think I’ll give that part a hard pass, thank you very much.”

  Rick laughed a little again, chuckling at her attempt at humor. That or Roxy’s. The others just looked at her, with Carlos nodding about what she’d said. As if it were just a good plan.

  “Smart. Then you always were, Jess. Now, we should settle in and see about making some plans. Can you get us up to speed about what you’ve been experiencing in the last bit?”

  They moved to the living room as a group, which was pretty nice, mainly being done in cream and white. Except for the floors which were hard wood in that room. It was, naturally, the kind of place that only a neat freak would even imagine having. Especially if they had kids at all. Jessica had taken one look at it, four years before and then barely gone into it after that. There was simply too great a chance that she was going to spill something or leave a smudge. It meant she studied in her room, or on occasion in the kitchen, or outside, in the summer. Not that she’d had classes then. Still, there were books to read and all that.

  To her mind the house itself had been designed as a kind of a trap. It was nice, being a mansion in a real sense of the term. It was also a place that wasn’t ever going to be comfortable for her. It had been put together in a way that had told her, without ever saying it, that she and her kind weren’t really welcome there. Which was, of course, insane to think. Her mother might be a bit phony around her at times, especially when it came to the things that had happened to her, early in her life, but the woman didn’t really seem to begrudge her existence.

  Only, at times, for some reason that Jess couldn’t put a finger on, it had honestly felt that way. Her parents cared for her and were her support system. That was perfectly consistent. There was jus
t a hint though, at times, where she could see that they would have rather not had her around at all. A thing which, she had to think, was sane. They’d popped out a kid, but that didn’t mean that children weren’t a pain in the ass at times. Their lives, in most ways, would have been better if she hadn’t been there at all.

  Which didn’t mean Jessica hid in her room all the time, buried in books.

  Even she knew better than to retreat into a cocoon of safety. That kind of thing was almost always an illusion after all. The kind of trick that left people strange and mentally warped if they tried to do it for too long. Worse than she was already, even. Being alone most of the time had given her a lot of time to research and consider things like that, which was a net positive in life, but true isolation was crippling, in the long run. Almost every text on the subject linked it to prolonged mental illness. As a causal factor. So, she made a point of seeing and talking to other people most days. Mainly her parents, which no doubt added to the stress on them.

  As they sat, settling on the nice white furniture, Meg jumping up to get drinks, Carlos gestured for Jessica to speak. It was clear that, his home or not, that particular man was the one in charge that night. He felt a bit off. Like a gay accountant who was pretending to be a bank president.

  There was nothing wrong with being any of those things, of course. Jessica just found the combination weird. Then, that might have been that these people, all of them, were also claiming that they could summon demons.

  The guy didn’t smile at her, seeming direct and focused on her alone, for the moment.

  Jess nodded at him, giving that regard back, directly. To show she wasn’t going to be easily led or cowed by his mere presence. It seemed, on some level that he was trying for that kind of thing, as ridiculous as it sounded.

  “There isn’t that much to tell, really… I saw a thing outside my window last night. Earlier that day I had a flashback… That was the same as always. Exactly. You all know about that?” They’d moved a few towns over when she was little, so it was possible that these people didn’t know about that kind of thing.

  Rick took his hat off, resting it on the arm of the sofa he was on. His rust colored hair had bits of gray in it, and was short enough to seem almost military. He wasn’t exactly fit, but the man wasn’t fat, either. A regular kind of average build that probably meant he worked out, since he had to be at least in his late forties.

  June, the other woman, kept sneaking glances over at Reid, trying to catch his eye. A thing that everyone else was ignoring, including her father. At least at the moment. He certainly hadn’t ignored her at the door. Then, he hadn’t had a choice, the woman being all over him in a way that, if they’d been alone, probably would have led to the bedroom. Jessica had never even heard of anyone being that warm in a greeting. Even in romance novels.

  It was probably nothing. After all, he was the one always going on about monogamy. At least her mother had said that, earlier in the day. That was probably a joke though. On the other hand, her dad hadn’t done anything back, other than a fairly standard hug. The inappropriate part of things had come from June, directly.

  Carlos just nodded. That seemed to be about indicating he did know about her memories and flashbacks.

  “Can you go over exactly what you saw? For both sets of things.”

  She nodded then.

  “It was three, really. I was also being watched in the shower. It gave me goosebumps under the hot water, which is a bit strange for me. That didn’t have a visual hallucination though. I… Can these things cause that? Hallucinations? Or is it all real?” She felt like she was jumping ahead, but the dusky skinned man just nodded at her, a bit.

  “Both, but most of the time it seems that their effects are closer to hallucinations, as you seemed to pick up. That doesn’t mean that the things are real or effective, just that they tend not to harm a person physically, all the time. My understanding is that such events are happening, but in an alternate zone of being. It can confuse some people. Really, most people, most of the time. Just assume that what you see and feel is real, in the moment. Now, what did you experience, if you can talk about it?”

  It took a while for her to go over everything, since the man wanted to know what she was thinking and feeling right before and after each event. About half an hour, even if all of the main events had taken place in a few minutes each. Stories were like that, so she didn’t really worry over it.

  As soon as she was done, Roxy stared at first Reid, then Megan. Her face was considering this time, instead of mean seeming.

  “That, is messed up. Having to honestly relive a horrible moment of your life like that, over and over again. It could be a horror show even if it were a good memory. This one is about as bad as I can think of. Well, I mean there could be worse things, but… Yes.”

  June, finally tearing her eyes off of Jess’s father’s face, closed her eyes.

  “That would just about drive someone mad. How are you holding up?” She seemed both concerned and as if she actually knew already.

  Jessica just shrugged.

  “I get by. It’s less fun than it sounds like. I keep telling people that it isn’t just a memory. That I really live it each time, but no one seems to ever really believe me. Or they don’t get it, which I suppose I understand. Memory is one specific thing and this is similar, but also different, at the same time. I know that it’s happening though, even if I can’t control it. I can tell what little me was thinking, but I can reexamine it all at the same time, while it’s happening. I feel it all though. The fear, the pain, everything. Each time. That isn’t normal at all, so I guess I can get that part of things. As for the thing outside my window last night, unless it was Nick who sent it, then I don’t know who would. Can they just… Show up, on their own? Malia coming back or… Well, she didn’t look like that, last time.”

  Showing that they were all much better informed on the topic of Jess’s insane childhood, no one asked who that was. Or for a description of the boy. Carlos simply pursed his lips. It made his decently round face seem a bit effeminate. Not that it was a crime to be a little girly, it just didn’t really fit the rest of the presentation the man was trying to put forth. It kept happening though. Every few sentences he managed to not seem as manly as he was trying to project with the nice suit and upright carriage.

  “Extra-dimensional beings can often seem very different from one meeting to the next. Their form isn’t as fixed as our own, if they don’t want it to be or have orders to hide from people viewing them. Still, my guess would be that Malia would have probably either not shown herself to you visibly at all, or would have looked the same as before. I say she, but that means nothing. Such beings don’t have the concept of gender at all. Even the names are for our convenience, not theirs. They have no need for such things.”

  That, she decided, was something to keep in mind. Malia had spoken directly to Deamon, by name. A thing that, if not for simple identification, would have had to be for… Well, the only other people there at the time had been Mark Close and her. Debbie as well, technically, but she’d been knocked out hard enough that there had been discussion of long-term brain damage from it. Nothing too bad, but enough that it had messed with the woman for a while. There had been an article about that online, dated a few years after the attack.

  Then Mark had died, so, the only person in the room who could have heard Malia using the name for the other entity was five-year-old her. She’d seen, and lived, the events over and over again, so was aware of that portion of things, even now, fourteen years later. If they didn’t need names, then using one so openly probably wasn’t a mistake.

  Not that Carlos couldn’t be wrong about that, or even lying to her, trying to leave her confused about the whole thing. If that was the case, then she needed to be careful. There didn’t seem to be a real reason to do that kind of thing, but these people sacrificed animals, to get ahead in business and possibly to kill people they didn’t like.

 
That wasn’t exactly savory or trustworthy. Not in any way Jess could see.

  They settled in then and simply kicked ideas around. The best one seemed to be to do nothing. At least it was the one that most of the others there thought was the prudent course of action, for the time being.

  Rick waved at her then. His MAGA hat was off, his bristly hair standing up straight enough to not show any lines from having worn it earlier.

  “Keep your eyes open and if you feel watched, write down the time, and what happened, if anything other than a feeling. Try not to get too paranoid over it. That helps no one. If you can, get a camera and try to get pictures. That probably won’t work, unless the being wants to be seen, but we know what to look for that way and might be able to tell more about it than you can. What class of being we’re talking about and things like that. The one yesterday… That sounds like a Watcher, really. Except that they don’t show themselves like that. Not often.”

  June, who’d gone back to checking out Reid pretty hard, brushed at her brown hair.

  “Think, Rick. Jessica here was possessed once. A perfect possession, with alterations having been made to her body. That had to have taken place, or she wouldn’t have survived it at all. Have you ever tried any sports? I bet you’re better than average that way. How that might play out long term, I don’t know, but there’s no normal way a five-year-old girl could take a grown man that way without something like that being done. It won’t be super-powers though, so don’t get too excited, Jess. Anyway, it could be that, in the right mental state, Jessica can just see things that others can’t. She was probably in a theta brainwave state, given the time of night and that she’d been trying to sleep at the time. That might do it, all on its own.”

  No one told the other woman to shut up, even if they didn’t say anything else about her ideas either.