The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) (5 page)

“No, anywhere in the house will do,” Steven said.

“I’ll leave it in my room, then,” June said. “Best if Evie
and Robbie don’t see it.”

“They’re unaware that we’re helping you?” Roy asked.

“Yes,” June said, “and I think it’s best that way. Evie
becomes quite upset whenever anything about the gift is discussed, and even
more so if Robbie is around. So I’d just as soon keep her out of it, if we
can.”

“Alright,” Steven said. “The other thing we’ll need is some
privacy. My father needs to conduct another trance, but this time he’ll need to
do it in private.”

“Oh,” June said. “Would my bedroom work?” She rose, and led
them down the same hallway to the second door on the left. “Here it is, is
there enough room for you?”

“We’re going to need a chair,” Steven said. “Can we use one
from your kitchen?”

“Yes, I’ll get one,” June said, turning to leave.

“Can you manage it without dropping the token?” Steven asked.

“Yes I think so,” June said, already going down the hallway.

“I’m still not sure I’m going to do this,” Roy said. “Feels
creepy to get naked in a strange woman’s bedroom.”

“Many people might consider it a turn on,” Steven said.

“I do not,” Roy said. “Do you think there’s enough room here
to draw the circle at the foot of the bed?”

“I think so,” Steven said. “We’ll put the chair in the
middle, draw the circle around it, and then I’ll leave you to it.”

“Oh no,” Roy said. “You’re staying in the room to watch me.”

“No, I’m not,” Steven said. “Judith specifically said I have
to leave you alone for this to work. The circle will protect you.”

June returned with the chair, and Steven took it from her and
sat it at the base of the bed.

“We’re going to pour some charcoal over the carpet here,”
Steven told her. “I think it will just vacuum up after we’re gone. Is that
alright?”

“Yes,” June said. “Whatever you need to do.”

“Would you excuse us?” Steven asked June. “I’ll join you in
the living room in just a minute.”

“Alright,” she said. Steven followed her to the bedroom door,
shutting it behind her.

“You strip down, I’ll start the charcoal,” Steven said.

“Hmmpf,” Roy said, and began removing his shirt.

Steven removed a lunch-size brown bag from his backpack, and
began lightly pouring the mixture in a circle around the chair. When he was
done, a naked Roy stepped into the circle and sat in the chair.

“You remember what to do?” Steven asked.

“Yes,” Roy said. “Let’s hurry this up. It’s cold in here. Put
on the blindfold.”

“You can’t have the blindfold,” Steven said. “You have to do
it without it. She said you could not be wearing any kind of clothing.”

“Goddamnit,” Roy said. “Fine then — yes, I remember what to
do. Let’s start.”

“Alright,” Steven said. “Yell if you need me. I’ll be
listening.”

Roy nodded, and Steven walked out of the room. He went back
down the hallway and joined June in the living room.

“Everything OK?” June asked.

“Yes,” Steven said, sitting on the sofa. “He’s about to try
another trance. I’ll need to listen for him in case there’s any trouble, so
we’ll need to be quiet out here while we wait.”

“Alright,” June said, sitting back in her chair.

They waited in silence, June twisting the token back and
forth between her tightly pressed palms. More than once while he was sitting in
the sofa, Steven wondered what was happening with Roy, and he felt the hair go
up on the back of his neck. He was trying to think of a blank wall, per the
instructions from Judith, but he’d never been good at clearing his mind or
meditating. His mind always ran a million miles an hour.

After twenty minutes, they heard the bedroom door open. A
fully clothed Roy emerged carrying the kitchen chair, which he walked into the
kitchen to replace before joining them in the living room.

“How’d it go?” Steven asked.

“June,” Roy said, “we’ll be back tomorrow to pick up that
lantern. I will need to speak with your daughter. Can we come at a time when
she’ll be here?”

June looked worried. “Well, she’s here in the mornings until
10. If you come before then, you should run into her. Should I tell her you’re
coming?”

“No,” Roy said. “I’ll explain everything to her when we
arrive. Let’s go, Steven.”

“Are you sure you need to involve her?” June asked. “I was
hoping we could keep her out of this.”

“I’m sure,” Roy said.

He must not want to explain in front of June
, Steven thought. He rose from the
sofa and followed Roy as they made their way out the front door, said their
goodbyes to June, and got in Steven’s car.

“So?” Steven asked. “Did you find it?”

“The only thing I saw,” Roy said. “Was the daughter. And I
have a hard time believing I needed to be naked to see that.”

“She’s the opening?” Steven asked. “She’s the Ouija board?”

“Don’t know,” Roy said. “But I can tell you I don’t care for
the vibe I got. The trance was very uncomfortable, just like the last one.”

“Now you know how I feel,” Steven said. “That’s the vibe I
get whenever we’re in there. So I’m guessing the token worked – no threat to
June’s life this time?”

“None,” Roy said. “But this trance Judith had me do was very
specific. I might have seen more had I just conducted a regular trance. I would
have tried one, after I was done with hers, but like I said, the vibe was very
bad. I just wanted to get out.”

“What now?” Steven asked. “Go back tomorrow and pick up that
lantern, then back out to Gig Harbor?”

“And meet with her daughter tomorrow,” Roy said. “See what
she knows.”

◊

“I’d like to talk to you, but I’m in a hurry,” Evelyn
Williamson said after shaking both Roy and Steven’s hands. She turned to go
into the kitchen.

“We need a moment of your time,” Roy said. “In the interest
of the safety of your mother and your son.”

Evie walked back from the kitchen. “What is this?” she asked.
“Some kind of threat?”

“We’re not the threat,” Steven said. “Something in the house
is.”

Evie rolled her eyes and walked back into the kitchen.
“You’re both wasting your time, and I have to be somewhere in ten minutes.”

“Evie,” June said, following her back into the kitchen, “please
listen to them. They know what they’re doing.”

“Why are you holding your hands like that?” Edie asked her
mother.

Steven and Roy followed June into the kitchen. Edie was
pulling leftovers from the refrigerator and placing them in a padded lunch bag.
She saw them enter the room and stopped.

“Really?” she asked them. “Now?”

“It’s important,” Steven said. “People have already been
hurt.”

“Whatever,” she said, resuming her packing, “Talk while I get
ready. I’m going to be late.”

“You don’t work until 10,” June said. “Why are you packing up
so early?”

“I have appointments,” Evie said, grabbing a briefcase from
off the floor and placing it on the kitchen island. She opened it and began
ruffling through folders inside.

“Your mother asked for our help,” Roy said. “We’ve been
looking into the bangings.”

“What bangings?” she said, her focus on the briefcase and the
papers she was shuffling.

“We’ve heard them,” Roy said, “and your mother has heard
them. So has your son. They were both attacked the other day, you can still see
the bruises on your mother. Your son’s room was ransacked. There’s something
wrong here.”

“There’s nothing wrong here,” Evie said, continuing to move
papers around in her briefcase. “My mother fell, and Robbie needs to clean his
room.”

“We know you have the gift,” Steven said. “Both Roy and I
have it too.”

She turned to her mother. “Why did you invite them here? You
know how I feel about these things.”

“We need the help, Evie,” June said. “I know you don’t want
to see it, but there’s something wrong here. Your father would have known what
to do, but I don’t have a clue.”

“No, you don’t,” Evie said, “if you think they can do
anything to help.”

“I’ve consulted an expert,” Roy said, “and with her assistance
I think we can get to the bottom of it. But the next step is you.”

“Me?” Evie asked. “I’m not involved.”

“Yes, you are,” Roy said. “Whatever is going on here, I
believe you know the answers.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” she said. “Why do you think I have
anything to do with it?”

“My father conducted a trance,” Steven said. “It indicated
you.”

Evie turned to her mother. “I told you to never let that kind
of thing happen around me!” she yelled at her. “How dare you! You don’t know
what you’re stirring up, mother. You’re bringing this all upon yourself!”

“What are you talking about, Evie?” June asked. “They’re just
trying to help.”

“They’re doing the opposite!” Evie yelled. “Get out!” she
said to Steven and Roy. “Leave, and don’t come back!”

“The house is safe while we’re here,” Steven said. “Your
mother has a token.”

Edie turned to look at her mother, observing her tightly
pressed palms.

“Take it with you when you leave,” she said, and grabbed the
lunch box, the briefcase, and a tumbler of coffee, and marched out the kitchen
door, slamming it as she left.

Steven and Roy turned to June.

“Follow her,” June said.

They walked to the door and opened it. A few feet away, Evie
was placing the items into her car. She heard the door open and turned to look
at them as they approached her.

“Really?” she said. “What do I have to do, call the cops?”

“I guess the cops could inspect the cuts and bruises on your
mother’s face,” Roy said.

“What do you want?” she said.

“We told you,” Roy said, “we’re trying to help figure out
what’s in the house.”

“Then do it and leave me out of it,” she said, getting into
the car. Roy stepped over to her car door and stopped it from closing.

“What, you’re not going to let me leave?” she said.

“Your son is in danger,” Roy said. “You need to stop for a
moment and talk with us. There’s something you know you’re not sharing.”

“You have no clue what you’re getting into,” Evie said. “The
best thing you can do is leave and not come back. If you know what’s good for
you, you’ll just move on and pretend you never met any of us.”

“Sounds like we’re on the right track,” Roy said.

“You’ll regret those words,” Evie said, reaching for the car
door handle. “Now get the fuck away from my car.”

Roy stepped away from the car door, and Evie slammed the door
shut. She roared the car to life and pulled out of the driveway.

“Well, that didn’t go very well,” Steven said, watching her
drive off.

“She’s always been strong-willed,” June said. “She’s wrong
about needing your help, you know. I’m so sorry she spoke to you that way.
Please don’t abandon me. We do need your help, regardless of what she says.”

“Don’t worry,” Roy said, the confrontation with Evie
strengthening his resolve. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“Perhaps we can collect the lantern and be on our way?”
Steven said.

“Oh, yes,” June said, turning to go back into the house.
“I’ll get it for you.”

Steven and Roy walked with her back inside the house, and
waited in the living room as June retrieved the lantern. She reappeared a
moment later, a thin piece of metal in her fingers. She handed it to Steven.

“What’s this?” Steven asked. The lantern was squashed flat,
the handle broken.

“I’m sorry,” June said, “but that’s how I found it.”

Rather than take the Dixon ferry to Gig Harbor, Steven
decided to drive around from Seattle. They parked in front of Judith Duke’s
mansion above the marina and walked to the door, where the maid once again let
them in and asked them to wait. They were soon escorted back upstairs, to the
same sitting room where they’d met Judith earlier. She sat in the daybed as
before. Steven looked at her clothing, trying to detect if it was the same
clothes he’d seen her in the last time. He wasn’t sure.

“How did it go?” she asked them as they sat.

Steven held up the squashed lantern.

“Oh my,” she said.

“Roy conducted the trance as you instructed,” Steven said.
“It pointed to the daughter. We tried to talk with her, but she wouldn’t speak
with us.”

“So, two dead ends,” Roy said.

“No,” Judith said, “not dead. But first, let’s drink.” She
had already poured the drinks they’d had last time. Steven wondered if the
glasses had remained on the table by the daybed the entire time. They each took
a glass and downed the liquid, feeling it burn as it went down.

Judith set her empty glass on the table, and motioned for
Steven to pass her the lantern. She examined it closely.

“Ruined, I presume,” Steven said.

“But not destroyed,” Judith said. “It still performed its
job, even though someone didn’t like having it around, apparently.”

“You mean you’ll still be able to determine what we’re dealing
with?” Roy asked.

“Would you bring me something from the shelf over there?”
Judith asked Roy. “The shelf in the back, behind me. A black velvet bag inside
a glass jar.”

Roy rose from his seat and examined the shelf she indicated,
looking for the item. He found it, and returned it to Judith, placing the jar
on the table next to the glasses.

“Would you be kind enough to open the jar for me?” Judith
asked. “My fingers haven’t the strength, I’m afraid.”

Roy picked the jar back up, and opened it. The smell of cedar
filled the room.

“Isn’t it a delightful smell?” Judith asked as she reached
into the jar and removed the velvet bag. She opened the cinch on the bag and
removed a small wooden planchette, shaped like a heart. In its center was a
hole, about an inch in diameter. She reached into the bag once again, and
removed a circular glass piece, which she inserted into the hole in the
planchette.

“Now,” she said, turning her attention back to the flattened
lantern, “let’s see what we can see.”

She held the planchette up to her face, and looked through
the glass piece at the lantern. She turned it back and forth several times.
Steven looked at Roy, and Roy looked back at him, shrugging.

“Interesting,” she said, continuing to turn the lantern under
the glass.

“What do you see?” Steven asked, anxious to know.

“I’m not quite done,” she said. “Give me a moment more. What
happened in the trance?” she asked Roy as she continued to examine the lantern.

“I saw only the daughter,” Roy said. “She has the gift, but
won’t use it. Some kind of blow out with her father years ago. We talked to
her, but she wouldn’t tell us anything.”

“She thinks you two are stirring up trouble,” Judith said,
her eye still at the planchette.

“Yes, I think so,” Roy said. “Doesn’t seem to care that her
mother and her son are in danger.”

“That’s because she’s already resigned herself to their
fate,” Judith said.

“How do you know that?” Steven asked.

“I could tell by the look on her face,” Judith said. “In the
trance. By the way, your father is quite well endowed.”

“You could see his trance?” Steven asked. “Some kind of
remote viewing?”

“So quick,” she said. “Breathtaking.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Steven asked.

“Roy would never have taken his clothes off if I had told
you,” Judith said.

Steven looked over at Roy. He was fuming.

“So there’s the proverbial good news and bad news,” Judith
said. “First the good. The lantern worked, and we have an idea of what we’re
dealing with. There are three entities in the house. Two of them are minor and
unnamed. Now the bad news. The third is named Aka Manah. He’s major. He’s the
one you’ll have to worry about.”

“Aka Manah?” Steven repeated. “Should we study up on him?”

“Most of what you’ll read in books is inaccurate,” Judith
said, finally dropping the lantern and the planchette, “unless you can find the
writings of someone who has fought him before. Here’s what you need to know.
He’s extremely dangerous because he controls thought. He will confuse his
victims as to right and wrong, and cause them to engage in horrific behavior as
though they thought it was the correct thing to do.”

“Do you think he might be influencing the daughter?” Steven
asked.

“Possibly,” Judith said. “But you’ll have to figure out his
intent. He doesn’t show up often, but when he does, it’s for a substantial
prize. The fact that he’s there, as well as two other demons, suggests there’s
something very valuable in the house that he wants. He’s usually successful at
getting what he wants.”

“What can we do?” Steven asked.

“Well,” she said, “I won’t lie to you. You stand little
chance of stopping Aka Manah. You might scare off the other two, but he’s been
around for thousands of years and he’s far more powerful than any of us. I
would try to find out what he wants, and give it to him.”

“Any suggestions on how to find that out?” Steven asked.

“That don’t involve nudity?” Roy added.

“So sweet of you to give an old lady a thrill,” Judith said.
“And so hirsute, too.”

“Any suggestions?” Steven repeated. “Can we just ask him?
It?”

“No,” Judith said. “I would advise you strongly against
communicating with him. To communicate, you have to open yourself up to both
send and receive. What you receive will most certainly be designed to ruin your
thinking and to turn you to his purposes. It’s not worth it, especially when
you’re dealing with something as powerful as this.”

“Then it’s the daughter,” Roy said.

“Exactly right,” Judith said. “You must bring her to your way
of thinking so that she will cooperate with you. The trance pointed to her for
a reason. If you find that out, you may learn what Aka Manah wants.”

“That’s going to be a challenge,” Steven said. “She’s very
much against the gift.”

“There are many ways to influence someone,” Judith said.

“I have some ideas we can try,” Roy said.

“That’ll be the easy part,” Judith said. “Once you know what
he wants, dealing with Aka Manah will require some careful stepping. If he gets
in, what he can do to your mind could put you in an asylum, or worse. I cannot
emphasize that enough. You must be cautious.”

“What about defenses?” Steven asked. “Anything we can do to
protect ourselves? Protection?”

“You can drink protection,” Judith said, “and it should help
at least temporarily. But you can’t turn off your brain. He’ll eventually get
in if he wants to.”

“You said they were afraid of Steven,” Roy said, “last time
we were here. What about that?”

“Ah yes,” Judith said, sitting up on her daybed. “You’re not
aware of it?” she asked Steven.

“No,” Steven said.

“Look,” she said, handing him the planchette. He took it, and
looked through the glass. He didn’t see anything.

“Enter the River,” she said.

Steven slipped into the flow, feeling the movement of it wash
over him. He looked through the glass portion of the planchette again, and saw
a red glow emanating from his skin. With horror, he saw a marking on the top of
his hand – it looked like two diamonds, next to each other. They glowed
brightly red. He passed the planchette to his left hand, and saw the same
pattern on his right hand. He looked up at Judith.

“What does it mean?” he asked her.

“What do you see?” Roy asked, concerned.

“I’m red,” he told Roy. “And there’s diamonds on my hands. The
shape of two diamonds. Bright red.”

“Those are aposematic marks,” Judith said. “They warn others
about you.”

“Warn others?” Steven said. “No one’s ever said anything to
me about this before.”

“I should have been more specific,” Judith said. “They warn
the evil about you. Just like those orange tree frogs that are poisonous to
snakes. The orange warns the snake. It knows not to touch the frog because of
the visible warning nature provided.”

“I’m poisonous to the evil?” Steven asked.

“Not exactly poisonous,” she said. “Dangerous. Many evil will
fear you because there’s something about you that’s dangerous to them.”

“What?” Steven asked.

“I don’t know,” Judith said. “You might have some ability
that counters theirs, or have an ability to damage them. Or, you might just
leave a bad taste in their mouth if they were to devour you. Really, I would
have thought that a man your age with the gift would have figured out his
abilities by now.”

“He’s just starting,” Roy said. “Only been using the gift for
a year.”

“You should accelerate his tutelage,” Judith said. “He has
abilities that are going to waste because he doesn’t know he has them or how to
use them.”

Steven remembered something Anita had said to him, at Unser
Estate:
You’re more powerful than all of them
. At the time he didn’t
know what she meant, but she must have been referring to this ability Judith
was describing.
Makes sense
, Steven thought.
Anita was evil. She
would have been able to see his markings as a warning.

“Are we done here, Steven?” Roy asked, his patience with
Judith at an end.

“I guess so,” Steven said, his mind whirling.

“We’ll show ourselves out,” Roy said to Judith, not bothering
to thank her.

“Clara has a bag of these delightful cucumbers from
Silverdale for you,” Judith said. “Please take them as you leave. I think
you’ll find them comparable!”

◊

“How come I can’t see it in the River?” Steven asked Roy.
They were back at Roy’s place, and Roy was flipping through the pages of his
book, looking for a passage he’d used in the past. “You can’t see anything on
me, right?”

“No, I can’t,” said Roy. “If it’s a warning to evil, why
would I see it? You’d either need to be evil, or have something like her
crystal to look through.”

“Michael and Jurgen must not have seen it,” Steven said. “But
Anita saw it. And Lukas must have seen it. So it isn’t a warning to evil
humans, only to evil non-humans. I need to find something I can view it through,
like her glass. I want to study the markings. I only had a second to look at
them. Do you have any markings?”

“I don’t believe so,” Roy said, turning the pages of his
book. “At least, I’ve never been told I do. Judith seemed to think I didn’t. To
be honest with you, most of the work I’ve done for others involved ghosts. I
tried to avoid the ones that dealt with more sinister and dark things, like
this one. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“Have I had these markings my whole life?” Steven asked. “Was
I born with them?”

“Probably,” Roy said. “She said it was a natural thing.”

“Have you ever read anything about this? In your book?”

“No,” Roy said, “I haven’t. But then, it’s new to me, so it
might be in here and I just haven’t understood it.”

“There might be information on it at Eximere,” Steven said.
“There’s hundreds of books left to go through. I might be able to pick up
something about it there.”

Roy closed his book and turned to Steven. “This is bothering
you?”

“Not bothering,” Steven said. “Well, OK, yes, it is bothering
me. How would you feel if you just found out you were marked – as a warning to
evil? Wouldn’t you be concerned? Want to know more about it?”

“I guess I would,” Roy said. “Maybe we can find something at
Eximere. I was thinking we needed to find a way to soften up Evelyn first, find
out what she knows.”

“Of course,” Steven said. “You’re right. That’s the next
step. Sorry to distract you. Please, keep reading.”

Roy opened the book once again and resumed his scanning. “I
used to have this little trick,” he said, “that would distract people while
you’re talking to them. It made them slip up and be honest with you. Damned if
I can find it though.”

“She’s gifted,” Steven said. “It’ll have to be stronger than
something you’d use on a normal person. She’ll see through the trick.”

“You may be right,” Roy said. “Might be too subtle.”

“We need her to trust us,” Steven said. “To realize that
we’re on her side. If we just drug her to get some answers we’ll still have to
deal with her fighting us.”