Chapter Twenty-four
Erratic is One Way to Put It
For an instant, it feels like I fell into an icy mountain lake.
Paralyzing cold, with needle pricks all over my body, grips me and then dissipates. Reality fades back in, revealing downtown Klamath… sort of. It’s deserted and the abandoned cars parked on the street are much older, being mostly from the seventies and eighties. Colors are a bit muted as well, almost like it should be pitch black, and I’m only able to see because of my vampy powers.
The ice cream shop is back. Empty, but back.
Oh, wow. Since I doubt we traveled across time, the only other explanation for what I’m seeing is that we’ve entered a place where time froze. Talk about haunting. The craziest part is how I hear nothing. No cars, no distant airplanes, no music playing from a half-dozen places in range of my crazy amped up senses. Most telling of all, there isn’t the slightest audible hint of any animal life. Zero bird chirps. Finally, the air is completely still, not even a tiny breeze.
It’s so dang quiet here that I become aware of our heartbeats, which I don’t usually notice since they’re so faint that any other sound in the environment will drown them out.
On random impulse, I start walking down the street toward the Monarch Diner. Of course, I’m right in the middle of the road since there is no traffic.
No sign of Mom anywhere. Klamath looks and feels like I’ve stepped through the screen of an old television set into an episode of The Twilight Zone . The desaturated colors of this place are pretty close to black and white.
My heart about stops when I look through a gap between buildings at an empty lot behind the ice cream place. There sits an enormous… thing. Looks like a pile of giant squishy black orbs with tubes and long tentacles growing up out the top. The whole thing’s at least two stories tall. Each orb is big enough for a pro wrestler to curl up inside of.
It’s the thing straight out of that book I saw in Dad’s stuff.
What the actual hell? That book is accurate? I gotta take a picture of this thing to show Max. Naturally, when I try to, I discover my phone is dead as a brick. Wonderful. Sometimes the animosity between magic and technology is really annoying. Oh well. The drawing in the book was scarily accurate. I can show him that.
We search the entirety of downtown Klamath to no avail. There’s no sign of anyone here. I start making my way into the outskirts, intending to go house by house no matter how long it takes. However, I only get to the first residence before feeling like an idiot when Tammy asks Anthony if he can find her the same way he found the vampires.
“I don’t think so,” whispers Anthony. “But that’s probably because Ma’s got it handled.”
“She does?” asks Tammy, looking as confused as I felt.
“Shh,” whispers Anthony. “Wait. Give her a minute.”
Another urge comes over me to start moving again, so I listen to it.
I go down the street back to the main drag and turn the left, following it for a couple blocks before it becomes an isolated road going away from the downtown area into the woods. This is the same route I used to take when going home from working at the diner. Realizing this makes me feel even dumber. Why would Mom be hanging out in Klamath? Makes little sense. She’s probably at the house, or near it.
Not long after we enter the woods, Tammy whisper-shouts, “Hey, look!”
She’s pointing off to the left, into the trees away from the road.
There it is. The glowing tree with the door from my dreams. Duh. I should have remembered.
A woman on the younger side of thirty emerges out of it as if it had been her home. She’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Has big fluffy Eighties hair, too. Can’t see her face, but as soon as I lay eyes on her, I know exactly who it is.
Mom.
Like some kind of desperate child who’s been lost at the mall, I break into a sprint.
My kids run after me.
“Mom?” I call out.
She turns to watch me run right up to her. Holy crap. It really is her but she looks… so very young. She also seems to have no damn idea who we are.
“Mom?” I reach out and try to take her hand. Shockingly, she feels solid… so I squeeze. “Holy crap… it is you.”
She looks me over, tilts her head. “I’m afraid you have me confused with someone else, dear. Who are you looking for?”
“Carolyn Sundance,” I say. It feels weird saying her full name, even though I’m an adult now. Heck, I look only a few years younger than her now!
“Well, you found her. Who are you?” Mom raises an eyebrow at me like I’m some sort of charlatan trying to sell her a timeshare.
“She doesn’t know.” Tammy grimaces .
“What don’t I know?” snaps Mom.
“How long you’ve been stuck here.” I take a deep breath. “You were outside looking for herbs, and a vampire attacked you.”
Mom’s face pales. “Okay, now you really need to start explaining yourself. How do you know about that?”
“Because I’m your daughter. It’s me, Samantha.”
She starts shaking her head. “Sammie’s only two.”
Tammy gives an ‘oh boy’ whistle.
I pull out my wallet and show her my PI credentials.
“Moon? I’m supposed to recognize that? Congrats. You have the same first name of my youngest.”
“Mom. Good grief.” I sigh. “I got married. You have been stuck in here for thirty years.”
“Now I know you’re full of it.” Mom shakes her head. “You don’t even look thirty.”
“Argh!” I pop my wings. “Shit happened!”
She stares at me in shock.
“What on Earth is going on here? I’ve been wandering for only a few hours and haven’t seen nor heard a single person… then you suddenly show up, with this kid and this man…”
Tammy laughs. “I’m older than he is.”
“Mom. Calm down and listen to me for a sec.” I exhale. “A vampire attacked you. I’m not sure what you did to rebuff it, but I’m thinking you tried to defend yourself, and things went sideways. Somehow, your soul ended up here while your body remained in the normal world.”
Anthony snaps his fingers. “Now I understand. Grandma has been randomly possessed over and over by any odd spirit that happened to wander close enough. That’s why her personality seemed to change so much. When she’s blank, she’s, um, empty.”
“What are you saying?” Mom looks at him. “Did that young man just call me Grandma? ”
“Mom, that’s my son Anthony.” I facepalm. “He’s sixteen.”
Mother stares at him. “What the hell are you feeding him?”
“Angel foodcake,” mutters Tammy.
“Oof.” I look down. “That’s a really long story. I promise I will tell you everything. We have to get you out of here while we still can. You’ve been living in a freakin’ tree, for goodness’ sakes!”
“I was wondering about that. Been seeing it here. Thought it was a souvenir shop or something. But inside, it feels warm and cozy. Like a real house.”
Tammy steps closer. “What happened that night, Grandma? When you were attacked?”
Mom looks at her. “I’m really a grandma already?”
“Mom, you’re…” I do some mental math. “Seventy-one now.”
“Oh, shit.” She looks at her hands, but they look smooth and young. No help there.
“So, what happened to you?” Tammy tilts her head.
“Just like this woman claiming to be my daughter said.” Mom gestures at me. “Was out gathering some herbs for a spell I needed to cast to keep us safe, and this vampire comes out of nowhere. We get into a scrap. Obviously, I’m no match for a creature like that in a fistfight, so the only thing I could really do is try to enchant myself so the dark bastard can’t get in.”
“Does she mean dark master?” asks Tammy.
“I certainly do not.” Mom folds her arms again. “I said what I said. Do you know how vampires work?”
“Oh, yeah.” I wince. “Just a little.”
“I sense sarcasm.” Mom narrows her eyes.
“Did you somehow know a vampire would be coming after you?” I ask.
“I did, yeah. Didn’t know when, of course. The monsters tried going for my mother, and my grandmother.” Mom lets out a long sigh. “They’ve been after us for generations. And if what you’re saying is true, I wasn’t around to teach you how to defend yourself.”
“No, you weren’t.” I look down.
“Did you get unlucky... or they just haven’t attacked you yet?” asks Mom.
“I got unlucky.” I nod. “Elizabeth’s stooge got me. Spent ten years as a bloodsucker with that bitch in my head.”
“Ten years?” Mom raises an eyebrow. “Are you dead, Sammie?”
“I was. But I got better.” I smirk, and give her a Cliff’s Notes version of how I ended up as a psychic vampire.
Since time is likely weird in here, I also go into some detail about Anthony’s near death at age seven and Tammy’s second childhood in the faerie realm. This, more than me being a vampire or Ant’s angel situation, seems to worry her.
“You let the faeries take your daughter?” barks Mom. “Are you sure that’s really her?”
“I’m not a changeling, Grandma. I wasn’t a baby when I went willingly with Queen Maple.” Tammy almost scoffs. “They did not abduct me.”
It’s at this point, Mom notices Tammy’s leaf dress. They exchange a stare-down like a pair of Old West gunslingers… until their expressions morph into the same sort of mutual respect a pair of doctors might trade… albeit doctors from two different disciplines. Got a strong feeling Mom is not terribly fond of faeries. I’m going to guess she had a bad experience with one at some point. Granted, they can be quite notorious pranksters. Unless someone does something hostile toward them, faerie pranks are rarely dangerous—but wow are they embarrassing, or annoying. Granted, dark faeries are an entirely other problem. Those little bastards are evil. Fortunately, they are not native to the normal world and even Tammy hates them .
“All right. Let’s say I believe you,” says Mom, looking at me. “What do you want me to do?”
“Come home. There’s also some bad news.” I look down, kicking the toe of my sneaker at the dirt.
“Yes. I know already. Artie’s on borrowed time.” Mom lets out a long, sad sigh. “Sorry for being a little obstinate and playing dumb, but I had to make sure you weren’t another hallucination. I am aware of how long I’ve been stuck in here. Been trying to get out the whole time but just couldn’t manage to do it. I’m sorry, Sammie.” Mom looks down. “My defensive magic was trying to shield my body so he couldn’t get in. I wasn’t trying to catapult my soul off into wherever we are now.”
I hug Mom. “You don’t have to apologize. Wasn’t like you were trying to do this to yourself.”
“I’ve been stuck in here for so long...” Mom gazes off wistfully into the trees. “Sometimes, I’d almost find my way back. I’d get close enough to see and hear, but talking or doing things was difficult. The connection never lasted long. I know my body is out there roaming around, empty and playing hotel to any wandering phantom that comes by. Ghosts, faeries, demons, whatever happens to find it. I can see why you thought I was kind of erratic.”
“Yeah… ‘erratic’ is one word you could use.” I sigh. “One day, you’d barely acknowledge we existed. The next, you’d be singing and dancing in the greenhouse.”
“That’d be the faerie possessing me.” Mom frowns. “The little shits probably thought it was hilarious.”
“Hey…” Tammy frowns. “They’re not all mean.”
“Sometimes you’d even get into an argument with Dad and the way he talked it’s like he didn’t even know who you were.” I rub my hands up and down my arms.
“Because he didn’t.” Mom grumbles. “He knows I’m not really in there. Poor thing’s been trying to help get me back. He read some book on Native American shamanism and got it in his head that being high makes it easier to commune with spirits. What he didn’t realize was that marijuana didn’t work like that. It had to be peyote.”
I gawk. That puts Dad’s massive weed habit in an entirely different light. He wasn’t trying to escape reality—he’d been searching for Mom. Freaking Elizabeth! How could she do so much damage to an entire family?
“Easy, Sammie.” Mom rests a hand on my shoulder. “Being angry won’t do you any good. You already killed her.”
“This is seriously weird that Grandma looks like she could be mom’s sister.” Anthony grins.
Tammy folds her arms, smiling. “And Auntie Mary Lou looks like she could be everyone’s ma.”
I look around at the woods. “Okay, what now? Does anyone know how we can get out of here?”
“You really are new at this whole magic thing, aren’t you?” Mom pats me on the arm. “If you opened a portal, lead me back to it. Hold my hand or this realm’s hold on me will cause me to become confused and get lost. You will need to physically pull me through the gateway. I can’t go on my own. This place won’t let go of me otherwise.”
I take her hand. “Fair enough. Let’s go. Are you ready to leave?”
“I am, Sammie. Lead the way.”