THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL (38 page)

“Joy? Are you down there?” Ben’s voice carried hope.

Maybe—just maybe. If only she could see.

The tiny passage filled with the light of several flashlights. Ben stumbled to Joy and reached out a hand.

“Wait. Don’t move. Somebody give me a light.” Joy had to know. She had to see.

Ben handed his to Joy, and she shone it down at the ground.

There lay Silas, her darkest enemy, slain at her feet.

“Okay, come on. Let’s go.” Ben flicked the light toward the doorway. “Let’s get out of here. You can tell us all about it upstairs.”

“D–do you see that?” She pointed the flashlight at the ground. Silas was gone. “Never mind. I’ll t–t–tell you about it in a minute. I’m so cold.”

Joy trembled her way up the stairs, her teeth chattering.

Ginny slipped her arm around Joy’s back and squeezed. “You’re in shock, sweetie. You’ll warm up soon.”

Alicia wriggled out of her sweatshirt and laid it across Joy’s shoulders.

Ben plodded up the stairs in front of the pack. Humming.

Was Ben crazy? How could he be humming like nothing had happened? He was happy, satisfied, and at peace. Joy wanted to live like that. Even in the darkest time.

But she still had questions. Why had she lived and Stella died? And how could she get Raven out? How could she reach the countless others who were stuck between two worlds?

“Ben?”

He held the office door as everyone entered then shut it. “Yes?”

“Will you teach me how to help other people get away?” Joy jerked her head back the way they’d come. “Like that.”

“Of course I will.” Ben beamed at Alicia. Then he looked at the group. “Let’s finish this thing, shall we?”

Mark, Alicia, Ben, and Ginny placed a hand on Joy’s head.

Ben lifted one arm and closed his eyes. “Father God, we thank You for protecting Your child and for embracing her and forgiving her. Please place Your permanent hedge of protection around Joy—her heart and her mind.”

Joy felt the warmth course through her body. A healing heat. Possessing her.

“Let her go from this moment and use her experiences to lead others from darkness and help her tell them about You. May her face be so bright and shiny that the Spirit of God will be evident to all she encounters.”

Joy felt her hands shake, her body trembled, and her stomach flopped. So that’s what all those people felt when they couldn’t resist the urge to worship. Joy raised her hands up to her heavenly Father, her Savior, her Master. “Thank You, Jesus.”

Ben closed his eyes and breathed a sigh. “It is finished.”

J
oy gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth. “I have to call my parents.”

Ben nodded. “I’m pretty sure that can be arranged. Ginny, can we get them up on Skype?” Ben handed Ginny his MacBook. “I think it’s best face-to-face.”

“Great.” Ginny popped open the laptop and brought up the Skype application. “What’s their user name?”

Joy chuckled. “You can’t laugh. It’s
Homes4u
.“

Ginny smiled and entered the new contact. “Now we wait to see if they accept the add request.”

“Hon.” Alicia stepped up to Ben. “Do you need me right now? I really should go help Tammy hold down the fort. It’s dinnertime.”

“Absolutely. Good thinking. We’ll see you later.” He bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

How sweet. But now that she mentioned dinner, Joy was famished. Fighting demons took a lot out of a person, she guessed.

“Okay if I stay?” Mark asked. “I’d like to see how your parents react. And it would be cool to talk to your mom and dad if it’s okay. I felt a connection with them when I met them.”

Joy shrugged. “Why not? It’s a good phone call.”

“Sure is.” Ben grinned.

“Oh, cool.” Ginny hit the E
NTER
key. “They accepted it already. We’re connecting now.”

Joy stretched her legs out and yawned while the sounds of the Skype connection floated over the airwaves. “Wow. What a day. I just wish Mom and Dad could have actually been here to see it.”

“But they’ll see it now.” Ben grinned down at Joy from his perch on the corner of his desk.

How was it possible his pants still had creases in them after all they’d been through? Joy was sure she looked a mess with mascara-raccoon eyes and hair all wild. Ooh, maybe she should have thought of that before agreeing to a video call.

“Hello? Joy, is that you? Is everything okay?” Mom looked a little high strung with wide-eyed panic.

“Hey Mom. Everything’s great. Is Dad there, too?”

“Yep. He’s here.” She scooted over a few inches, and Dad stuck his head in the path of the webcam.

“Hey Joy. Good to see you.” His eyes wore a questioning look.

“Here, let’s put the laptop just a little farther away so you can see us both.” Her arms filled the camera space and fumbled around. “There, how’s that?”

“Perfect.” A more annoying start to the call than Joy had hoped, but fine. “I’m here with Ginny, Ben, and Mark. And we have some things to tell you.”

Now, what to say? “I honestly don’t want to go into all the details because it’s a little too fresh. But I will tell you I have been under heavy, heavy spiritual attack. Basically, I’ve been stalked by a demon.” Any reaction from Mom or Dad? Nope. They kept straight faces. Either because they weren’t surprised, or they were trying to reserve emotional reaction.

“Because of his presence in my life, which at first I welcomed, I haven’t been able to make any connection with God or with the true program of Diamond Estates since I got here.”

“Which we knew.” Ben jumped in. “But we always want to give each girl the time she needs to make a free-will commitment.”

“That makes total sense.” Dad nodded.

Joy sighed. “That connection led me to do some crazy things.”

Mom’s eyes widened. “You mean like at Grandpa’s house?”

“Yep. And I tried to break away. So many times, in so many ways. But every time I did, something really bad happened, like the fire here and Grandpa dying. It just kept on and on and got worse each time.” Joy shrugged. “I was afraid for my life and for the lives of everyone around me.”

Dad searched the space he could see. “Ben? Are you still there?”

“Right here.” Ben slid into view.

“Is what Joy’s describing even possible? Not that I think she’s lying—not at all. But could it have been something else?”

Ben’s expression turned grave. “It’s entirely possible, Mr. Christianson. The spirit world is a very real and very dangerous place. Dabbling, testing, experimenting … those things only open a door no one should walk through. And it often, in fact usually, closes behind a person who takes that chance.”

Dad nodded and turned to Mom. “Stella?”

Mom sighed. “That’s what I kept trying to tell you.”

“Okay. We’ll talk about her later. Off camera. I don’t like my apologies recorded.”

Everyone laughed.

“So, anyway. They prayed for my protection today and walked me through. And I surrendered my heart to Jesus.” Joy sat back with a grin spread from ear to ear. “Not that it was easy. But I’m too exhausted to go into details. Maybe I’ll write a book about it someday.” Joy laughed.

“Sweetheart. That’s wonderful.” Mom wiped away a tear.

“I can’t even begin to tell you …”

“Yeah. You couldn’t have given us better news.” Dad beamed.

Ben leaned in again. “I feel privileged to have been here and be a part of this. She’s a changed girl.”

Dad nodded. “I can see it written all over her face. Her eyes are sparkling again.” He turned to Mom. “Peg, I do believe we have our Joy back.”

They signed off the call, and Ginny moved to close the laptop. Joy reached out a hand to stop her. “I was thinking, since we have the Skype opened, what would you guys say about me making another call?”

Ginny narrowed her eyes. “Who do you need to call?”

“My cousin, Beatrice. She’s the one I went through a lot of this with—she was the one in the blizzard with me.”

Ben shook his head. “I’m not sure I can let you contact a friend from your past. Not just yet.”

“No, no. Remember? Bea is the one who has Down syndrome, and she’s had a really hard time. Just me being away would have been hard enough for her. But to lose Grandpa, and then to witness Stella’s death. Ugh. I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.”

“Oh, the poor thing. That’s awful.” Ginny rubbed Joy’s arm.

“Plus, I ran out of the church this morning and never went back. So I never got to say good-bye to Bea. I’d really like to make it right with her.”

“I think we can make an exception this time.” Ben stood up and stepped toward the door. “But I’ll leave this one to you two. I’ve got to make sure everything’s holding up out there.” He gestured down the hall to the rest of the house.

“Ben?” Joy gazed up at him.

“Yes?”

“Thank you. Just … well … thank you.” Joy wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “You saved my life.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Nope. Jesus did that a long time ago. You just had to realize it.” He spun away and strode from the room.

Ginny poised her fingers over the keyboard. “Okay, let’s see what we can do. Do you know her Skype address?”

“Sure, it’s easy. B-E-A-O-M-A-L-L-E-Y.”

Ginny typed the information and requested to add the contact. “Now we wait.”

“I’m not sure they’ll be online though. If they’re not, can I use a regular phone? Or try this again later? Maybe I could send a text or e-mail to have them meet me here at a certain time?”

“Sure. That’s fine.” Ginny pointed at the screen. “Not going to be a problem though. Someone accepted our request.”

“Hello? Who is this?” Sue’s concerned face appeared.

Oh, naturally she’d want to see anyone new who tried to contact her daughter.

“Aunt Sue. It’s me, Joy.”

Her mouth broke into a grin. “Joy? I can’t believe it’s you.” Her face fell into serious mode. “How are you? Your mom and dad told me what’s been going on. I don’t even know how you’re handling all of this. Are you okay?”

“I’m really good.” Joy grinned. “Trust me. Everything’s changed. Mom can fill you in. I’m actually on borrowed time right now, and I’m desperate to talk to Bea. The last time I saw her … well, you know. Is she still up? Can you put her on?”

Sue smiled to her side.

“I’m here.” Beatrice nudged her mom a few inches then plopped into the chair as she chewed on a Twizzler.

“Hi, Bea. It’s so good to see you.”

Bea leaned forward and stared into the camera, smiling at herself as she watched her face change in the little picture up in the right corner.

Joy waited. Whatever made her happy.

Bea stuck her tongue out and made silly faces.

A minute went by. Joy smiled at Ginny. “So, Bea, how’s school?”

“It’s good. I’m doing really good. They tell me I can go to the next grade. I’m really happy.” Her smile disappeared.

“But Joy?”

“Yes.”
Here it comes
. Joy would have to answer for everything. She was ready.

“I don’t know. So much happened … I just asked Jesus to help me put it back in the past. He did, so now I don’t think about any of it.” She shrugged a shoulder. “He’ll help you do the same thing, too. You know, put it all behind you.”

“That’s wonderful. He’s really good at that, isn’t He?”

Beatrice nodded.

“Bea? Can I tell you a good thing?”

“Yes. You can tell me a good thing anytime.”

“Well, my good thing is that I only talk to Jesus now.” Joy grinned.

Beatrice threw both hands up to her cheeks. She squealed. “I’m so happy, Joy, and Jesus is happy, too.”

“I know He is.”

Ginny pointed at her watch face.

“Bea, I’m about out of time to talk on the computer. But, we can do it again, okay?”

“When?”

“Well …?” Joy looked at Ginny and whispered, “Next week?”

She nodded. “Sure. Four o’clock.”

“How about if we talk at four, next Friday?”

Beatrice rummaged in the drawer and pulled out a pencil then grabbed a sticky note. “When?” She poised to write, serious as if Joy was about to give her nuclear launch codes.

“Next Friday at four o’clock.”

Beatrice chewed on her tongue while she wrote. “Four in the afternoon, right?”

“Yep. Unless you want me to wake you up at four in the morning.”

“No.” Beatrice laughed. “I don’t want that.” She read the paper and then counted on her fingers. “Seven days?”

“Yes. I’ll talk to you again just like this in seven days. Sound okay?”

“Sounds great. I love you.”

“I love you, Bea.”

Joy exhaled her tension. It had been a long day.