A Ghost of a Chance (22 page)

No smile, no emotion just, “Good, good girl. Take my hand. It’s not far where we’re going. I’ve never been very far.”

And when she touched the outstretched hand, Hallie felt the chill from the strange woman’s flesh pass into her, into her blood.

And she was overtaken with dizziness. Distantly, a voice told her, “It’s all right, just sleep now.”

Jack walked into the den of Hallie’s house intent on finding Aunt Marie. He was excited but panicked at the same time. He kept feeling a mounting urgency as though time were of the essence. The woman, Madeline, or whoever the hell she was, would not be standing idly by. He was certain of this. After all, hadn’t she planned for him to be sucked up into that universe of Sebastian Winter’s as a somewhat permanent fixture? But fortunately for him, she’d miscalculated, again.

When he reached the threshold of the den, something made him stop. It was a feeling. Something was wrong here. A tangible uneasiness had gripped him. And then he heard a scuffling noise behind Hallie’s recliner. Tentatively he moved closer, somewhat reluctant to find out what was there.

Bracing himself, he sprung quickly around the side of the chair. On the other side was a fur ball huddling, and trembling uncontrollably.

“
Jack Jr.?” he whispered. The puppy seemed to sense his presence because his head popped furtively out from its hiding stance. Jack knelt down beside him. “What is it boy?” He could feel waves of anxiety emanating from the little bundle. And then the realization came, and a knife of cold fear sliced through him,

“
Good God, where’s Hallie?”

He jumped up, willing himself toward her bedroom as fast as he could. From the doorway, he saw her asleep on the bed, quietly, peacefully. He could see her chest moving in sleep, but as he moved closer he knew all was not as it seemed. He felt the difference. Something was devastatingly wrong.

Beside him, he suddenly sensed the warm presence of Aunt Marie. “Something’s wrong with her,” he whispered with panic in his voice.

She nodded, her face as solemn and concerned looking as he’d ever seen it. “We made a mistake Jack.”

“
What’s happened? Tell me what has happened.“ He was in an absolute panic.

“
She wasn’t trying to get rid of you, just get you out of the way. So she could do this.”

Helplessly, he demanded, “What has she done?”

“
Can’t you feel it Jack?”

He looked again at the quiet still form whose breathing was still regular. And then he saw it, with his own eyes and was horrified. There was no aura of life energy around her. Everything that made Hallie what she was had gone. What remained there lying on the bed was just a shell. “Her spirit, her spirit is gone!”

“
Madeline led her away, and now she can’t get back.”

“
Why? Why would she do that?”

“
She evidently wants you to follow her somewhere Jack. Somewhere where she feels secure.”

His voice was filled with the fear that was coursing through him, “How do I get there?”

He looked to the older woman but received no answers, just eyes filled with boundless compassion.

He wandered aimlessly around the house, lost, helpless. Aunt Marie had left him alone with her strength, her prayers, and her blessing. That all felt useless to him now, when all he needed was something concrete – a lead, some clue as to where Madeline had taken Hallie. He didn’t even really know whom or what Madeline was. Maybe she was some entity that had locked onto Hallie during the lowest point of her life like a parasite – one that was evidently willing to fight with a death grip to hold onto the connection. But where, where did that get him?

He sat in Hallie’s favorite rocking chair and inhaled the scent of her from the afghan that she always pulled around her.

Jack Jr. was below him, sniffing at his feet, looking as hopeless and bewildered as he felt. His head dropped and he closed his eyes trying desperately to focus on her but not being able to get a strong feeling of her anywhere. And then, in his despair, he remembered something from the other life. It was a young boy all alone in his room, just praying for a little more time with the father who had just died – just to hug him one more time, and laugh with him just once more. All the prayers had gone unanswered, and all his life he’d never asked for anything else, until now.

He bowed his head and asked, with everything that was in him, asked desperately for help. He breathed deeply in stillness for a time that felt immeasurable to him. And then finally, it felt as though the very air around him shifted a bit. There was a flicker; he felt something — a perceptible warming around his heart area. His eyes opened, and his gaze was drawn to the mantelpiece of the fireplace. There was something shiny up there that he hadn’t noticed or maybe hadn’t been there before. He moved toward it. Of course, it was Hallie’s heart necklace that her Aunt Marie had given her. It was so precious to her.

Grasping it in his hand, he felt the sweet blissful feeling of her rush through him, the glow that emanated from her. It felt so good, so filled with love. He closed his eyes and felt a strong steady pull back to the study. There was something there now. He was sure of it. Something he hadn’t seen before.

It had been there all the time, of that he was certain now. Somehow it had been shielded from his sight, or perhaps he had never been able to see clearly without ego or prejudice before – the weapons that blind one to the truth. But he was ready to face the truth now, more for Hallie than himself. He was ready to let go of the self-deceptive illusions that had been part of him, part of the life that was before and that had been slowly stripped away one by one during his time here. There was simply no choice. Another came first now, and he could not afford to cling to what had been.

There was a large gaping hole on the far side of Hallie’s study. It pulsated not with life but with a chill, a dark frozenness that permeated from its jagged entrance. This was where Madeline lived. She was the thing that clung so tightly that it would destroy rather than let go. And somewhere in that dark place was Hallie too.

He moved closer to it. The opening reached to the ceiling but was cut unevenly as though haphazardly ripped out of rock. It looked like something out of mythology – perhaps the entrance into an underworld.

He stood on its threshold, breathing its iciness deep into his lungs. Lord knows he didn’t want to go in there. It was dark. It was cold. It was the stuff of nightmares. He would have preferred immensely to face Samory anytime, anywhere in a fight, a duel, in the boxing ring. But who he was going to meet wasn’t Samory. At least, it couldn’t kill him again. But that knowledge in itself was not comforting. One thing that he did feel now clearly standing here was that it was afraid – that was why she never ventured very far from her dwelling.

He stepped forward into the darkness. The chill wrapped around him. It was penetrating, Arctic. He moved forward, actually hearing the crunch of ice beneath his steps. Reaching out to maintain balance, his hands touched the slick, frozen surface of the walls. What the hell was this? Why was it so unbelievably cold?

He literally forced himself to push on through the frozen tunnel. Ahead of him distantly, he could make out the flickering of light. He continued through the uneven portal, feeling the clamminess of the cave soaking into him. All he could do was concentrate on the light ahead of him. He moved on, although only dread filled him. For Hallie, for Hallie, he continued to chant in his mind like a mantra. She was the only reason he could press on.

The fear was so thick and tangible around him that it actually felt like a weight pressing on his body. Then finally, after what seemed like an endless stretch of time, he reached the end of the black cave and stepped into something that he had not expected, not at all.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Only flickering candles, dark red candles randomly placed throughout, lit the room. It was still cold here. In fact there was frost on every piece of furniture. All the chairs and fixtures seemed worn down as though they were very old but still recognizable. He was still stunned, trying to wrap his mind around what he was looking at. It was a warped, worn down, frozen version, but there was no doubt as to where he was.

He was in Hallie’s study, some kind of hellacious, convoluted version of Hallie’s study. It appeared there was no electricity with the exception of one place. The computer terminal was lit, the screen flickering on and off sporadically, but it did work. And there was someone there at it typing away frenzied, but it wasn’t Hallie and it certainly wasn’t Samory. It was someone else.

The slight figure turned around to face him; her face emaciated looking but her eyes enormous, dark green eyes – the eyes of envy, jealousy. It was Madeline from the restaurant, sort of. He had to admit that Hallie’s fiction had been much kinder in its portrayal. She was haggard looking, almost skeletal, clutching a blanket tightly around her shoulders – obviously not untouched by the cold of her environment. Just beyond her, in the far corner of the dimly lit study in the gold wingback chair was Hallie curled up, quietly sleeping. He moved toward her.

The wraith spoke, “I wouldn’t do that Jack. Disturbing her right now might be sort of dangerous.” She grinned obviously enjoying his distress. Even her gums were an unhealthy, faded, pink color.

“
So it’s still Madeline, I presume.”

Again the smile stretched uncomfortably across her bony face, “Very good. But my friends call me Maddie.”

He hesitated, “Sounds appropriate.”

“
So what’s it going to be? Are we going to be friends Jack?”

Did her voice sound like a cackle when she talked or was it just the influence of the atmosphere overtaking him?

He paused, a little surprised at the warmth of her cold greeting. His eyes quickly scanned the dismal surroundings. There didn’t seem to be much he could do in the moment. So he decided to humor the nutcase for a little while, while he devised a plan.

He grabbed an old moldy looking, metal chair and turned it backwards. Sitting down on it, he spoke in the most jovial manner that he could muster. “I don’t know Maddie. What did you have in mind?” He smiled at the strange emaciated woman in her decrepit nightgown wondering for a moment what exactly were the perks in this for her.

She pulled the blanket a little closer around her leaning against the decaying version of Hallie’s computer desk. “Well Jack. You don’t mind if I call you Jack, do you?”

“
Not at all. It seems we’ve been occupying a common space for some time.”

Anger flickered for a moment across her pale face then was gone. Obviously things weren’t as cope septic between them as she’d like him to believe.

“
I’ve brought you here for a reason. I want to make a deal.”

He cleared his throat, “A deal?”

“
Come to an understanding that will mutually benefit us.”

“
Really? I wasn’t aware there was any common ground between us. You’ve been quite antagonistic in the past Maddie. What makes you think that we can work something out now?”

Anger again, good, good keep the crazy woman off-balance. “Sometimes concessions have to be made.”

He could read it clearly on her bony, little face. Apparently, something had changed. It flashed through his mind that it might have been Hallie’s confrontation with Edward. She had moved so far beyond any need for Madeline that desperate measures had to be taken now.

“
Is that what you’ve been doing hiding out here, making concessions?”

Her expression grew hard, not that any of her expressions were particularly soft. “What do you mean?”

“
Well I just have to ask. Is all of this really worth hanging onto? No offense Maddie, your place here, well, isn’t many steps up from a rat hole. And I don’t know what you looked like before, but I’ve got to say you look like complete hell now.”

“
These are all superficial things.” And then the green eyes narrowed. “You’ve always liked your comfort Jack, your pretty women. I’m a little surprised you didn’t go for Monica. The package, shall we say, is a lot glossier.”

Now he frowned. This little conversation was beginning to irritate him. “Let’s say my priorities have changed since I’ve been here.”

“
Oh yes, I’ve seen how selfless and noble you’ve become. Even willing to face Samory on Hallie’s behalf.”

“
Samory was a piece of cake.”

“
Samory is a puppet,” and then she emphasized with a gesture of her particularly long and bony hand. “My puppet.”