16. Cary

16

Cary

I shouldn’t be surprised that Fate dealt her hand once again. Al called early in the morning to tell me that Chemeketa Mayor Lance Franklyn and his husband Drew Andreassen were in town as part of an early spring event at the local theater, what with Drew being a popular singer in the local coastal communities.

The two men agreed to meet us at Al and Christie’s place to discuss what we were up against.

After explaining the situation, Drew briefly considered it before responding. “As you know, we dealt with something similar not long ago. It was a curse that left an embodied cantation that was linked to Lance and his brothers,” Drew said, looking over at his husband. “Eventually, it was love that broke the curse, but if what you’re dealing with here is similar, you’ll have to figure out what’s needed to send the poltergeist on his way.”

Our hosts both nodded. Al was playing with her lip like she did when pondering something deep and troublesome. “Can’t we just exorcise the place and be done with it?”

Drew shook his head. “No, sadly, that only delays the problem. In fact, it can even make it worse. In that way, Hollywood seems to get it right. Exorcism is a Band-Aid over a tense situation, and when it gets as bad as this, it’s a very small bandage over a very large problem.”

Al looked at me, and I could tell what she was thinking. She wasn’t entirely wrong either. We should’ve crossed these entities over or subdued them long ago. Of course, my inner debate was if Evan was a descendant, and this was all coming out now, maybe he was meant to face it head-on. Otherwise, he’d probably just be handing the problem down to someone in a later generation.

“So, what’s first?” Al asked.

“I may understand why this entity is so upset. First, I think it’s because of losing his wife, and second, I think he’s jealous of the love Inez, the nanny, had for his son. I think he sees his son as the reason he lost both women he cared for. Although, I also think he hated both women too. There’s a lot of strange and conflicting emotions involved.”

Drew nodded. “The emotions within an entity that refuses to cross over are often complex. We knew the cantation that went after Lance and his brothers was trying to prevent them finding love. Even though that entity was a cantation caused by the curse their father cast against them, I’m going to guess this entity is similar. There’s something it’s trying to control.”

“But how do we find out?” Christie chimed in. “It’s not like we can talk to it. Cary tried, and it attacked him, even possessed him.”

Drew glanced at Lance again and smiled softly before taking his hand. “There’s no real answer here, no silver bullet. The entity will make his intentions known eventually, just try not to let it interfere with your lives in the meantime. The only thing you can really do right now is live your life and let the chips fall where they may.”

I shook my head. “But how can we do that when the entity is attacking us? When he’s attacking Evan?”

Drew was clearly thinking when his husband Lance chimed in. “We had a spirit advocate, my grandmother, Gwen. She helped us navigate the issues and helped keep us safe as well. If you can identify someone, maybe another entity trapped in the manor, they may be able to help you keep Evan safe.”

Al nodded. “That sounds like good advice. Meanwhile, whether or not Evan decides to return to the manor, we can place more calming spells on the place and block the basement better, hopefully making the entire property safer.”

Drew and Lance both nodded at that. “Well, we need to head out,” Drew said. “My performance is part of a dinner happening tonight. You should all come. I hear there are still some seats available.”

That might be a perfect way to start again with Evan , I thought. “Yeah, I think that would be nice. I’ll contact Evan and see if he wants to go. Things haven’t gone very smoothly since he arrived here. Some normal might be a nice change.”

“Al, Christie?” Drew asked, and both women shook their heads.

“We have guests checking in late this evening. I don’t think we’ll be able to get away in time.”

“I’ll leave two tickets at the front desk,” Drew said as he and Lance stood. “I’d like to meet Evan afterward if he’s open to it. Maybe I could get a reading on him, that’ll help in the interim.”

“I’ll ask him,” I said, because that was all I could do. The truth was, I highly doubted Evan ever wanted to see me again, much less be willing to go to a dinner and concert. But in that, too, all I could do was ask him.