A Dash of Halloween

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

T hey’d just entered Oriskany Falls when Slate’s phone buzzed with a new text message. When he turned, Dash heard a soft groan.

“Something wrong?”

“Text from Liv.” Slate typed a quick response. “She asked where we are because my parents dropped in to speak to me. Knowing them, it’s also so they can meet you.”

Dash’s first reaction was hell no, but fair was fair. He’d made Slate meet the closest thing to his parents. “Is that bad?”

“Not really. My parents are good people.” Slate stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “They’ll say they want to check on the status of the haunted house, but they really want to know if I’m ready for the Blue Moon.”

Dash gripped the wheel a bit tighter. “Oh.”

“Don’t worry, they’re not going to grill you.” Slate put a hand on Dash’s thigh, something he did a lot during the trip. “If the veil parts, even for a short time, they need to get ready to deal with the increased paranormal activity. They want to be prepared for the worst.”

Did Dash’s grandfather worry about the same thing? He hadn’t given off a concerned vibe when they visited. “Do all mediums have to worry about what happens in Oriskany Falls?”

“Not immediately, but if the opening isn’t closed it will spread.”

How had Dash lived his whole life without this impacting him? “Can you break that down a little more?”

“Sorry, I keep forgetting you haven’t been trained yet.” Slate shifted so he faced Dash. “If there’s an open portal, Esmerelda had theorized spirits who didn’t leave when they died but want to move on will make their way to Oriskany Falls and use the opening. That will take some time to happen. The bigger issue is what comes through from there. My family realized over the last century that the only things that want to come back to earth are those less pleasant spirits.”

Slate paused and Dash didn’t need an explanation of what ‘less pleasant spirits’ meant. “That’s what your family will need to deal with.”

“Yes, but it will impact all mediums eventually. Those that come through would eventually flee hoping to avoid my family’s attempt to send them back. That would make work for those outside of Oriskany Falls.”

Which meant if they failed it would have real and widespread consequences. “Great.” Dash said as they pulled up to Blackwood Manor’s iron gates. “No pressure at all.”

Dash pushed the button Slate had loaned him and the gate slowly parted. Slate hadn’t said anything, which meant he was thinking or Dash had insulted him, or both. Probably both, Dash decided.

Driving around the house, Dash parked in front of the carriage house. He was about to get out and open the door when Slate put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry my family dragged you into this. It seems my family has been nothing but trouble for the Reeves family for the past century. I’m really sorry, Dash. You don’t deserve all this.”

Dash had been wrong, it wasn’t either of the options he thought. It was guilt that silenced Slate. “First, neither you nor your family did anything to me. Esmerelda made a mistake, but her actions came from a good place. It wasn’t her fault something wicked tried to use her portal. Second, I’ve spent the last two weeks wondering if I deserved someone like you. If having to help you fix what Esmerelda did is the price for dating you, sign me up twice. You showed me I have a choice. I don’t have to end up like my parents and I won’t because I have you. So don’t apologize for anything, Slate Blackwood, because I’m not sorry. Not even a little.”

Outside the car, Dash noticed a shift in the air. The lights around the house flickered with an eerie, almost sentient light. A chill ran down Dash’s spine as they approached the manor, its windows dark and watchful.

“I feel it too,” Slate said. “It's like the world is holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.”

Liv met them at the door, a bundle of nervous anticipation and guarded concern. “Did you learn anything?”

“We think so, but let me call my parents first.” Slate shifted his backpack and headed for the second floor.

Dash admired his ‘take on the worst problem first’ attitude. “My grandfather gave us a book that has some ideas on how to seal the rift for good.”

“And?” she asked. “Will they work?”

“I have no idea,” Dash said. “We talked about things with my grandparents, but we need to study the book before we can make the attempt. Slate understands it a lot more than I do.”

“Can I see the book?”

Dash expected this request, and left it with Slate. He wanted to read it first before he let anyone besides Slate see it. He didn’t know if there were family secrets he was supposed to keep. “Slate has it. I’ll go ask him.”

Ignoring her response, Dash ran up the stairs two at a time. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but this was all new to him and he didn’t want to do something he’d regret later.

“Yes, I know.” Slate’s voice floated down the hallway from his bedroom. “I’ll talk to him as soon as I get off the phone.”

Dash assumed he was the “him” Slate mentioned. He turned to head to the guest room, but the temperature dropped suddenly, and Esmerelda appeared in front of him. She pointed in the direction of Slate’s room.

Dash understood what she wanted, but it wasn’t what he wanted. “He’s having a private conversation, Mrs. Blackwood. I don’t want to be rude.”

She pointed more emphatically and moved closer.

Ghost or not, she didn’t get to tell him what to do. “No. I’m respecting his privacy.” He stood his ground, bracing for her to make contact.

Something touched his shoulder, and he screamed as he jumped from the contact.

“Dash,” Slate said, his phone still in his hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Esmerelda….” He turned back, but she was gone. “She appeared and told me to interrupt you. I thought she was going to push me when I told her no.”

Slate extended his hand into the cooler air around Dash. “That’s peculiar even for her.” He turned and offered Dash his phone. “My mother wants to say hello. If this is a bad time I can have her call back.”

The screen showed the call was on mute, and he could’ve kissed Slate for his forward thinking. “I can talk to her. Liv wants to read the book, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Understood.” He headed back to his room. “You can talk in our room.”

Slate referring to his bedroom as theirs was a big step, but it didn’t scare Dash as much as he expected. It even put him in a much better mood as he clicked off the mute button. “Hi, Mrs. Blackwood, this is Dash Reeves.”

T he conversation with Slate’s parents was brief. They were nice, welcomed him to their family, and said they looked forward to meeting in person. Dash’s conversation with Slate took more time. Together, they skimmed the book, but didn’t see anything they couldn’t share, so they rejoin Liv in the sitting room. When Dash handed her the book, she scurried off to her desk full of notes.

While Liv read and re-read the book, Dash helped Slate bring food into the sitting room. They encouraged her to eat, but she didn’t want to interrupt her flow. For all her excitement, Liv didn’t learn anything Dash and Slate hadn’t gotten from Morten Reeves.

As they pored over the book, a picture began to emerge. The ritual to seal the veil would require both Dash and Slate, their combined abilities acting as a counterbalance to Esmerelda's solo attempt a century ago.

“It says here that the ritual must be performed when the Blue Moon reaches its zenith,” Liv read aloud. “That gives us a very specific and limited window to work with.”

Dash had been worried when he’d read the passage, but the weight of the narrow time frame felt heavier hearing the concern in Liv’s voice. “What happens if we miss the window.”

“At a minimum we need to wait almost three years to try again,” Slate said. “That assumes the veil doesn’t rip apart this year. I’m not sure what we do if that happens.”

“Like I said in the car,” Dash mumbled. “No pressure at all.”

T he next few days for Dash passed in a blur of preparation and practice. He spent hours working with Slate on how to use his new abilities. Dash learned how to sense and direct the flow of spiritual energy through meditation. It was similar to the on the fly lesson Slate gave him the first time, only more focused. When they were training, the air around them shimmered with ethereal energy, Dash heard sounds that he thought were whispers at the edge of his senses.

Slate held Dash’s hand and told him to focus on their connection to serve as an anchor as he reached out with his senses. Energy flowed between them during those times, and drew them closer. If he didn’t believe the midnight waltz could bind souls before, he did now.

The connection Dash had with Slate was something he’d never experienced before. It terrified and excited him in equal parts. Using that link to Slate, Dash’s confidence grew every time he successfully mastered a new skill. Time, however, loomed in the background like a growing storm. Halloween was just days away.

The closer to the Blue Moon it got, the more supernatural activity in Oriskany Falls intensified. Most people didn’t notice the whispers or apparitions walking down Main Street, but they couldn’t miss objects moving, lights flickering, or shadows passing through rooms.

On the night before Halloween, Dash dreamed Esmerelda reached out to him in her spectral form. Her eyes filled with a mixture of disappointment and sorrow. He jerked away and sat up in bed, tossing aside the arm Slate had draped over his chest. Gasping for air in the dark, he felt the room closing in around him.

“Breathe, Dash,” Slate said as he wrapped his arms around his trembling boyfriend. “I’m here. Just breathe.”

Dash clung to him, still shaking from the vivid image. “Esmerelda was there and she looked disappointed. What if I'm not strong enough? I’ll put everyone in danger if I fail. Especially you. I’m not ready for that. It’s too soon.”

"You won't fail, Dash.” Slate stroked his head gently. “Believe in yourself and in us. You don’t need to do it all by yourself. We’re a team. Together, we got this.”

Closing his eyes, Dash clung to his connection with Slate. It was strong and steady, just like Slate. Energy built up between them, like when they were training, and it soothed away Dash’s fears.

He tilted his head up and pressed his lips to Slate’s. The kiss was desperate yet passionate. Slate pulled Dash closer, and their energy circulated between them, drawing their souls closer still.

The power of their bond should have scared Dash, but it didn’t. The closeness allowed him to see Slate’s beautiful soul. He was like an angel sent to earth to save Dash from his loneliness.

Breathless, they finally parted, and Dash rested his forehead against Slate's. “Thank you for saving me. The way you believe in me, I feel I can do anything.”

“That power was always inside you.” Slate pulled their hands to his lips and kissed Dash’s fingers. “You saved me too. I was so lonely until I met you.”

Holding Slate close, something hit Dash. “Promise me you won’t do anything rash tomorrow night. No jumping in the breach to seal it like Ezra Reeves did.”

Slate leaned back until he could look Dash in the eye. Slowly he shook his head. “I can’t promise you that. And before you ask me again, can you honestly promise me if the situation required one of us to do what Ezra did a hundred years ago, you won’t do it to save me?”

Dash wanted to lie, but Slate already knew the truth. “You know I can’t.”

“Then don’t ask me to make you a promise you can’t make to me.” Slate’s hard edge faded. “That’s not how love works.”

Dash knew he loved Slate since the first night they slept together. Hearing Slate felt the same left Dash with a warmth he hadn’t felt since he was still single digits old. He couldn’t tell Slate how he felt, because he knew without a doubt, when the time came, he’d do exactly what his ancestor did to save someone he loved. Slate would ask Dash to make a promise he had no intention of keeping.

Rather than continue the conversation, he pulled Slate on top of him. The chance this would be their last night together was high, and he wanted Slate to have something to remember for a lifetime.