CHAPTER#35

"I'm not sure what I can do if trouble shows up." Beth was hugging herself, goosebumps standing up on her skin.

"I just need your eyes and ears. Let her know if something is coming." Mike stripped his shirt off and handed it to her. "Here, you must be cold."

A few seconds passed before she accepted it, their eyes briefly meeting. She slid it over her head, the shirt slightly loose on her, but it covered more of her than her nightgown did. "Thank you."

"No... problem." He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt shy in front of her with his shirt off. He watched her stick her hands down the back of the shirt and pull, flipping her hair out to lie on top of the fabric. Her breasts briefly pressed against the front of the shirt, the lace of her nightgown creating patterns. It was a strangely juvenile thought to have, but it occurred to him that her breasts were now touching the shirt he had just been wearing. "Zel, I need you to go to the garage and make sure everything there is secure. These things are happy breaking my stuff for now, but I'm fairly certain you have some dangerous things out there."

Zel nodded. "That's a good idea."

"If you see one of the fairies, grab her. Whoever you find can relay messages. Cerulea, you stay here with Beth. If something happens, come get me."

"What are you going to do?" Beth asked.

"Let's just say I know someone who can help." He followed Zel up the stairs and back through the house. The spirits had peeled wallpaper off the wall and made a royal mess of the first floor. He could hear furniture being moved upstairs and let out a sigh. These things were making a mess of his home.

"Are you going to be okay?" Zel asked when he showed her outside. Abella landed, concern written on her face. Naia's face reflected worry as well.

"I'll be fine." He gave Abella and Naia a quick rundown of what was going on and asked Abella to help Zel protect the garage. He walked back in the house, doing his best to ignore the flickering lights and creaking stairs. Out the front door, he walked down the front steps and straight to the sundial. He gave it a turn, taking note of the figure in white at the end of the driveway but ignoring him.

He came back up the stairs and stopped, his eyes on the porch swing. It wasn't moving, and he suspected it hadn't moved in quite a while. Cecilia had explained to him that manifesting took energy, and she had certainly exhausted herself on her trip with him into the tunnels of the house.

"Cecilia?" He fought to ignore the sound of a piano being played poorly inside. He didn't even have a piano. "Cecilia, I need you."

The swing moved as if a light breeze had caught it, but he felt no wind. He sat down on the swing and pushed it with his legs, slinging his arm over the back of it.

"Cecilia." He waited, the sounds getting worse. After a few minutes, the temperature dropped and the banshee slowly faded into view, her head leaning on his shoulder.

"I'm tired, runsearc." Her cool fingers touched his bare flesh, her body translucent in the moonlight. He stroked her hair lightly, marveling at the thick streak of red tucked away beneath the rest.

"I know, but you have a job to do. Your real job." He tilted her mouth towards his and kissed her. He felt the heat sucked from his body and shivered. She became more substantial, her hair now beginning to float.

"You aren't dying."

"You're right, I'm not. But there are some souls loose in my home that need tending to." He suspected that the spirits had been wary of the banshee and had waited until she was gone to act, not knowing that she was bound to the place. To emphasize his point, the lights in the house all turned on simultaneously then went out.

"Loose souls?"

"Yes. They came out of a broken jar." He helped her rise. She floated before him, her gaze on the outer wall of the house.

"There are thirteen of them."

"And they're trashing the place. Can you help them move on?"

A slow smile grew across Cecilia's face. She took him by the hand and let him open the front door for her. They moved into the front room, orbs of light shooting from wall to wall. He found half of his laptop lying on the ground and just shook his head.

"Once I begin, I will be gone for awhile. The trip is long and I don't want you to worry." She squeezed his fingers and then let go. "And whatever you do, don't follow me into the light."

"What light?"

"One you shouldn't be able to see. However..." she flipped the red lock of hair. "I think you might be able to see it now."

"I understand." He moved toward the wall, rubbing his hands together. She had sapped a ton of his body heat away and he was starting to shiver.

Cecilia took a deep breath, and he plugged his ears, ready for the scream. This time, however, her entire body lit up with a blue, electrical glow. The air smelled immediately of ozone, and the orbs he could see came to a standstill.

The scream never came. Instead, she sang. Rings of light emanated from her body in every direction, passing through the walls and flashing when they passed through a spirit, freezing them in the air. The rings stabilized, wobbling slightly in time with her song.

It was both very beautiful and so sad at the same time. Mike was filled with sadness he had never felt before, tears streaming down his face. The spirits tried to flee, but the rings collapsed inward, drawing them toward the banshee. In the ethereal light, she had never looked more beautiful, her body floating three feet off the ground. She continued her song, grabbing the spirits out of the air and absorbing their light into her body. The room frosted over, ice creeping along the walls toward his bare skin. The light was so bright that he had to squint through his tears. Other voices joined hers, the melody washing over him. He was paralyzed in grief.