First Time for Everything #2
Abby piped up from behind me. “Is he telling you about the bad ghost?”
I turned to her. “Have you seen it?”
“Eh, only sorta.” She waffled a hand back and forth. “Jon and I both can see the impression of a spirit but it’s like a really faint afterimage? So I can tell he’s there, and he’s greyish, which isn’t good. I saw him in the backyard.”
Yeah that sounded like trouble.
“Can you show me?” I didn’t want to deal with it, but I needed to see with my own eyes how bad the ghost was before calling Mack.
William led the way out, with me following through the house and out the back sliding glass door, and onto the covered patio.
It was a fun little backyard for sure—someone was a gardener in this family—but it was ruined for me because a little creek ran through the backyards.
Nothing big, you’d barely get your ankles wet, but it apparently just enough to feed power into the greyish ghost hanging out right on its banks.
I swear every single body of water on Earth leads to Destination Fucked.
The ghost was grey, but not a dark grey, so he wasn’t a lost cause completely. I’d seen ghosts like him before, and been able to talk them down enough to pass them. But I also didn’t think this guy would be a good candidate for that option, not if he hassled and trapped the kid ghosts.
I turned my head a little to address Skylar, Abby, Isabella, and Gary, who had all followed me and lingered in the doorway.
I spoke softly because I did not want to draw that ghost’s attention.
“Yeah, he’s not good. I think an exorcism is going to happen here, although I might be wrong.
We might be able to talk him down enough to pass him.
” I didn’t think I should do so without talking to Mack first, that didn’t seem a good idea.
“I’m going to call my teacher up, get him over here to help. ”
I fished phone out of pocket and in that moment, everything went to shit.
The ghost apparently realized who—or rather, what—I was, and the second he clocked it, he screamed in this wordless challenge and bum rushed me.
Panic zoomed right up my spine and in pure reaction, I dropped my phone and dodged sideways so he couldn’t get hands around my throat.
I heard everyone gasp or make a sound of surprise as I suddenly moved, but I had no time to explain.
He whirled, because of course he didn’t have to worry about things like muscle or gravity, and he could turn on a dime.
I had exactly two seconds to respond and my brain gibbered in panic because what the hell, I hadn’t even been trying to fight this guy or start anything, but he was reacting like those damn ghosts back in Black Rock and god, why were they like this?!
I’d never exorcised before. Never had the chance, really, and only knew in theory what to do. But in that second, I realized I had no other choice. He’d try to possess me if I didn’t do something to ward him off.
He reached for me, again, screaming this time right in my face. “You come here, you goddamn slut!”
Excuse the fuck out of me?! Scared as I was, that got me mad enough to override the panic instincts. I caught both of his wrists and held him there. He fought me, but I was more powerful. Fear lit up his face as he realized he was toe to toe with the five hundred pound gorilla.
I wasn’t confident enough to just hold him or chew him out, like I’d seen Eli do so many times, and I didn’t want this to become a wrestling match, either. “Skye, get Mack on the phone!”
She whipped her phone out in record time.
The ghost, though, wasn’t giving up that fast. He leaned his head forward, like he was going to bite my nose off. The hell?!
You know what, even if I botched this exorcism, it’d stop him for a short time, and I needed that desperately right now. Grimly, I started channeling pure power in through my arms, through my hands.
I heard Skylar say, “Mack, come quick, Gwyn’s over her head—”
The ghost’s expression turned into pure terror and he now was trying to wriggle free. “No! Stop it!”
“You’ve fucked with the wrong Medium,” I snarled back. “You really think I’ll stop now when you tried to bite my nose off? Nope. Scatter to bits.”
With a scream, he unraveled, becoming nothing more than dust motes, and in a swirl of air, he just…disappeared.
I stood there, breathing hard, shaking on every level. That was exhilarating, like an adrenaline rush. Terrifying, too. I felt like an Extreme Sport athlete who had just finished an insane course, and was now hyped up on adrenaline and a little shaky with it.
William let out a low whistle and he gave me an impressed nod. “I didn’t know you had that kind of skill, young lady.”
“No, no,” I denied, panting for breath. “That was panic.”
Skylar got a hand on my shoulder and I realized her phone was on speaker.
“Hi, Mack,” I greeted, still breathing a little hard. Definitely need to calm down. I sounded like an asthmatic right now.
He answered with caution in his voice. “Ma petite chère, everything all right?”
“Debatable. I just did my first exorcism.”
“I’m on my way.”
Heh, figured that would be the answer. “He was a very low grade ghost, and I think I got him completely? But damn, Mack, that was insane.”
“First one always is. You’re not sure whether to ride the high or be overwhelmed.”
Yeah, that was a pretty good summary. Almost not wanting an answer, I asked William, “Was that the guy you were talking about, or is there more than one?”
“No, that was him,” William promised. He still looked very impressed. “It’s safe now, I think. He was the only trouble I know of in this neighborhood.”
I’d believe that only after Mack and I swept the area. “Okay. Mack, the grandfather of the family stayed because he found fourteen kids here that weren’t able to pass on. He’s requested I help do so.”
“Good lord almighty, a fourteen? Well. Good on him. I think you could pass all of them, but especially after what just happened, I’m going to come and supervise.”
“Okay. I’d feel better with you here.”
“Of course, ma petite. What’s the address?”
I had no idea, and had to ask the family to rattle off an address. Mack repeated it to make sure he had it down then promised to be there within the half hour.
Abby suddenly hugged me from the side, and I leaned into it, letting my shaking nerves settle. That had rattled me in all the wrong ways.
“Girl, you are a boss.” She hugged me a little tighter. “I could barely follow what he was doing, but my heart was in my throat the whole time. What a fight!”
I nodded emphatically. Yeah, it had been.
Skylar stood on my other side, and she eyed our surroundings like she didn’t trust shit right now. “That was insane. Anyone—or anything—else that we need to worry about?”
“No, fortunately, or at least I don’t see anything.”
William said, “I’m sorry, Gwyn, I didn’t think he’d try to harm the living.”
“Yes, well, bad ghosts view Mediums as a threat.” Which, heh, granted I was. I’d so brag to Eli about taking him down later. After I had enough to sugar to process.
Skylar still glared mistrustfully at the backyard. “We’ve seriously got to find you an anchor. I don’t know how to support you in situations like this.”
I extended my free arm and gave her a quick hug. “I’m okay for now. Thank you.”
“Let’s go back in,” Isabella suggested. She looked unnerved, too. Like she hadn’t expected an altercation and wasn’t sure how to slot it into her worldview. Didn’t think she was the only one, her husband also had that wild-eyed stare going on.
Abby, able to read people much better than I could, reassured them. “It’s alright, Gwyn can handle whatever comes. We’ll talk about how to lay in protections on the house before she leaves, though, okay?”
Reassured, both parents nodded.
The hug had steadied me, and the feeling of victory was overcoming the adrenaline shock.
I felt like I could actually go inside and sit down.
Actually, I really wanted to sit down. Like, seriously wanted to sit down.
My knees still felt weak and shaky. Since I had time to kill, I offered to William, “I can boost you, if there’s anything you want to say directly. ”
“Is that alright? I really would appreciate it, there’s a few things I didn’t get a chance to pass on.”
“It’s fine. We’ve got time to kill.”
We retreated back in, and I took the first seat available, dropping right into it. Abby came around to lean into my side, whispering, “You did great, friend. Breathe, okay, don’t pass out on me.”
I gave her a nod and tried on a smile. I was okay, really.
Gary sat on the couch nearby, eyes on me. “Did I just see a full-blown exorcism?”
“You did, yeah.” My first, no less. Whoa, like seriously, WHOA.
“So…he won’t be back?”
I could see why he was worried. “No, he can’t. An exorcism is the last resort for a reason—I literally scattered his soul to bits. He can’t revive or reincarnate, or anything like that. He’s permanently erased from the universe.”
Gary looked disturbed, but Isabella’s lip curled with disdain. “Nor should he, if he’s trying to hurt people for the fun of it. We need less people like that, alive or dead. Thank you, Gwyn. I realize that was more than you bargained for.”
Yeah. Understatement of the century, there. “You’re welcome.” Trying to shake it off, I offered William a hand. “Leave your hand in mine, they’ll be able to see and hear you.”
Sitting on the couch holding hands with a sixty-something year old ghost after performing my first exorcism was not how I thought I’d spend this morning, but I was so glad to be here.
William had a lot to say to his son, his grandchildren, and it was nice watching the family have that final conversation.
Kind of heartbreaking, in a way, as we all knew it would be the final conversation.
But still, important, and hopefully a good memory they’d take with them in their lives.