Electric Blue (23 page)

They were all headed towards the Coven House. No one had been back there for quite a few days. David wondered how Monica was doing and how she and Moe were holding up. He was riding in
Orlando
's car with Chip,
Orlando
and Lucia. Naomi and Cecelia were taking their own car. Roz was riding with them.

"Naomi and Cecelia think it is the only way to protect Roz, Chip. A demon pregnancy in a human can be deadly; but more often than not, it drives the woman insane."

"And we can't forget the prophetic dreams she is having,"
Orlando
said. "She seems to be a link between Poppy and where she is in the house. If something is hunting her, something that will prevent her from finishing her quest, the results could be devastating." She paused, letting her words sink in. "We have no other way, it seems, of knowing how Poppy is fairing inside the house. Roz seems to be linked; blessed and cursed all in one."

"Besides," Lucia said. "You remember what happened last night. If she wants to keep the baby, she will have to be watched. She's a danger to herself."

"I still can't believe what happened. . . ." he said. "That wasn't Roz. That wasn't my Roz."

David put an arm around his friend and patted his shoulder. It was all he could do. Last night had been hard on all of them. He remembered her face as she was waking up after the dream. It was happy and content. It had not stayed that way for very long. Even thinking of it now pained him.

All eyes turned on Roz, who had opened her eyes and was smiling. She lost her smile a moment of two later when they continued to stare. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Why is everyone looking at me like that? Will someone please tell me what's going on? Why am I lying down on this couch?" she looked at Chip. "Tell me what's wrong," she said.

Chip had cleared his throat and had told her that the child inside of her was a demon. She went white for a moment and then started to cry. "Why?" Chip asked. "Why didn't you tell me it wasn't my baby?" "And tell you what?!" she screamed. "That it wasn't my kid because Jethro screwed me! Is that what you wanted to hear?" She sobbed some more, her words coming out between the sobs."When you guys told me I was pregnant, I knew whose baby it was. Why do you think I tried to kill myself?" she was practically screaming now, her voice rising up to a high pitch. Chip pulled her to him to calm her down.

"It's okay. . . ." he said. He could think of nothing else to say.

"No it's not!" she said. "Don't you understand, it's not okay? I have these dreams of Poppy, Chip, dreams that she`s in trouble. I can FEEL her inside the house." Roz was starting to look frantic, a twitch starting just below her right eye. "At the same time, there is something controlling me. I know it is the baby in my stomach, that it will drive me crazy." She laughed a nervous giggle."It's driving me mad, you know." She stood up then, lightning quick, fast as could be. She began to pace around the room, giggling softly.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" she said. "I have a cake in the oven; I have to get home before it burns. I have to get away."She was pacing, trying to find a way out of the room.

"What's happening to her?" Chip asked.

"The demon is trying to mask what is going on inside her," Cecelia said. "It is why she could never remember anything in the morning. By masking what is happening to her, the demon is trying to make her forget, to take away the pain."

"The demon is eating her from the inside out," Naomi said. "It is taking the nourishment it needs to grow stronger from her. Usually, the woman carrying a demon baby is driven insane and will then die from malnourishment; she is a husk of her former self."

"That won't happen to my wife," Chip said. "I'll abort it before I let the baby kill her." Chip stepped forward and grabbed a hold of Roz's arm, making to pull her out of the room. Except, Chip didn't get very far. Something sizzled in the air, an electric blue zap of energy, turning to gold and white. It ran through Chip and threw him into the bedroom wall. The electricity flickered around Roz as if it were a womb.

"What's happening?" David asked.

"The demon is protecting itself. It knows that Chip means it harm."

"Please!" Roz said through clenched teeth as the electricity ran through her. "Please don't try to hurt the baby. If you do. . .it will kill me." She took a few deep breaths. "Besides, I want this baby."

Chip stirred at that. "What do you mean?" he asked warily. "It could kill you anyway."

"Because. . ." Roz clenched her teeth harder. "It's trying to control me. . .I don't have much time. . . ." she took some more breaths. "Because after this, I may never. . .have children again. . .and that would be more horrible than. . .what I'm going through now. . . ." She held her hands up in front of her when Chip started to rise."Don't come near me. . .it's not safe. . .I love you Chip. . .promise me. . .that if I die. . . ."

"I won't let you die," Chip said fiercely.

"Promise me. . ." Roz said, "That if I do. . .you will raise the baby as your own. . .and love it like your own. . . ." her eyes pleaded with him. "Promise me. . . ."

"I promise," he said.

"I love you Chip."

"I love you too."

Hearing that, she smiled finally and slumped to the floor. Chip ran to catch her but Cecelia held him back. "Wait," she whispered. They watched as the electric blue energy left Roz, gave one last flicker and died. "I think we can touch her now."

"What are we going to do with her?" Lucia asked. "She's a danger to herself, to us. If we try to get near her when she is awake, we'll be zapped."

"We need to find a secluded room," Naomi said. "We need to keep her safe."

"I know just the place," Cecelia said. "It's where we found my daughter, Monica. It's perfect; she will not be disturbed."

Riding in the car now, Chip thought their plan was cruel. "You realize we're putting her in a prison," he said.

"We're keeping her safe," David said.

"Too safe, maybe," Chip replied.

"What else do you suggest we do?" Lucia asked. "We can't touch her, but she wants the baby. When she's awake, she's almost mad, but at night, she is our only link to Poppy and Alicia. We have no choice."

"I know," Chip said. "That's what breaks my heart." He stopped talking as they drove up the drive way towards the House on Harrow Hill.

"This will keep her safe,"
Orlando
said softly.

"That's what I'm worried about," Chip said.

They got out of the car and helped Naomi and Cecelia carry Roz's still sleeping form up the stairs to the attic of the Coven House. When they reached the attic, they went to the second bedroom. They knocked on the door but there was no answer. David put his ear to the door and heard voices. "There's someone in there," he said.

He pushed open the door. When it opened, and they all saw what was inside, they all began to scream.

Chapter Thirty One

Locked Away

Monica and Moe were on the bed in the bedroom, stark naked and going at it like a couple of jack rabbits. The sight of two ghosts in the throes of love making was the last thing any one of them expected to see, so it was quite a shock to everyone's already sensitive state of mind. When everyone started screaming, so did Moe and Monica, so shocked to be found in their love nest by their friends. The fact that they were both naked didn't help either so they quickly grabbed the bed sheet and wrapped it about themselves. They all stopped screaming at once. The only sound was the shallow breathing of everyone as they tried to regain their composure. Finally, Cecelia spoke.

"What is going on here?"

"I should have thought it would be obvious," Monica replied.

"You know what I mean!" Cecelia spat.

"Actually no, I don't. We're having sex in my room. I should be asking all of you what is going on."

"This is not the time for questions," Cecelia replied.

"Actually, she's right," Moe said. He had the grace to blush. "Can all of you give us a few minutes to get dressed please? And then you can tell us what was so important that you had to barge in like that."

"How about you tell us what you were both doing?" Cecelia said.

"How about you give it a rest," Monica snapped. "I'm older than he is for frig sakes. It's not like we're breaking any rules, Ghosts are allowed to have sexual intercourse, are they not?"

"There are no laws against it," Naomi put in.

"There you go then. We've grown attached to each other, Moe and I. So if we want to have a little afterlife love affair, it's our business!" No one challenged her. "Good! Now how about you all clear out for a few so we can get some clothes on, Okay?" She sighed. "Please."

They all stepped out of the room and closed the door. Cecelia was livid. Naomi put a hand on her arm. "Your daughter has not known any love for quite some time, not even from you. If she and Moe have been able to help each other and love each other, shouldn't you be happy?"

"Humph," Cecelia replied.

"If you're worried about Moe being a bad guy," David said, "he's not. He's quite the gardener, and quite the gentleman."

"Still not the way I would have chosen to meet him," she said.

"That's understandable," Naomi said. "But don't go off the handle here, Okay?" Naomi smiled at her grandmother. "Such a great Witch, but still such an old fuddy duddy." She smiled.

"Humph," Cecelia said.

* * * * *

"But how am I going to leave this room?" Monica asked.

They had put on clothing and all evidence of their little quickie had been erased. Cecelia had grudgingly given Monica and Moe her blessing. "Keep her happy," was all that Cecelia would say.

"I just think it's great that you two are in love!" Lucia said. "I love a good romance."

They had brought Moe and Monica both up to speed on what was going on. But in order to lock Roz away in the attic room, it would be better if Monica was not in it. "I can't leave this room," she said. "You know that."

"Of course we do," Cecelia said. "That is why we thought of a solution."

The words hung in the air for a moment. "What do you mean?" Monica asked, her voice hushed.

"It means we think we found a way so that you can leave the room and move around the house, like Moe does now."

A tear rolled down Monica's cheek. "Oh, God!" she started to cry. "That would be so wonderful, I've thought of nothing but that for so long! It's been my dream!"

"Well, now the dream will become a reality," Naomi replied, touching Monica's hand lightly. "What do we need to do?" Monica asked.

"It's actually pretty simple," Cecelia said. "You have to ask the house for energy."

"That's it?" she replied.

"The house is full of energy. It keeps Moe alive and well, it can do the same for you, could it not? Now that you have me back in your life, now that your unfinished business has been dealt with, there's no reason it won't work."

"All I have to do is ask?"

"It can hear our very thoughts," Cecelia said.

Monica looked at the walls around her. She approached the south wall carefully, cautiously. "I know you can hear me," she said. "Please. If what they just said is true, I would love nothing more than to be free." A hum began to build in the room. Everyone heard it, felt it growing around them. The room was filled with energy. "Please, I would love nothing more than to be out of this room, to be able to walk among your hallways. You are such a beautiful house. . .." She placed her hand lightly on the wall and the connection was made.

A white light appeared for one brief moment before Monica and then it was upon her; it covered her head and then her shoulders and then her chest, until her entire body was covered in a cocoon of light. She hovered in the air for a moment before the white light put her gently back down on the ground again and slowly faded away. Monica stood quite still for a moment and then ran out of the room, to the other side of the doorway’s threshold. Nothing happened. She came back to the wall and kissed it softly. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you so very much."

* * * * *

After Monica's release from her prison, Moe took her around the house to give her a tour and so that they could pick their own bedroom together. They wanted to give the others room for what they had to do. Chip especially. It was not easy knowing that they were about to lock away his wife in an attic, and there was nothing he could do. He watched with a pale face as Cecelia put Roz's sleeping form on the bed. She looked like Sleeping Beauty. Cecelia closed the door behind her. There was a little panel in it, so that you could slide food underneath. There was also a panel at eye level, so that you could observe whoever was in the room. Once the door was closed and locked, they all looked at Cecelia. "So what happens now?" Chip asked.

"Now?" she said. "Now, we wait."

There was a moment of quiet before a loud shout ripped through the air. Chip pulled back the eye panel of the door just in time to see his shocked wife's face as she floated several feet above the bed.