The Diablo Horror (The River Book 7) (2 page)

“How’d you find out about Eliza?” Roy asked.

“I called down to see how she was,” Steven said. “While I was
talking to her, she began to feel worse. I suggested she call Joe and have him
take her to the hospital. Joe called me back to say it was pneumonia, and bad.”

“Troy?” Roy asked, referring to Eliza’s ten-year-old son.

“Staying with Joe.”

“So I’m assuming you had a reason to call her. A visit from
Aka Manah yesterday?”

“He was in my house after I dropped you off last night. Just
sitting in the living room like he owned the place, waiting for me to walk in.
He was insistent that I…” Steven caught himself. He almost spilled the deal to
Roy, which would have been a violation of the agreement’s terms. “…let’s just
say I have to do what I have to do by Saturday morning,” Steven finished.

“And to make sure you did, he’s done something to Eliza?”

“Yes, he said I should check on her. He called it insurance.”

“There’s times I really hate dealing with ghosts. But at
least I feel like we have the upper hand with them. With this demon, you’ve got
no leverage. It holds all the cards.”

“You’re exactly right,” Steven said, taking the turn to
Highway 101 toward Eximere. “He insisted it be done by tomorrow, then he
threatened Eliza to ensure I get it done. There was no changing his mind.”

“Alright. What do you want me to do?”

“I have some cardboard boxes in the trunk,” Steven said.
“Help me haul them down to Eximere. Then I’ll need some uninterrupted time
while I… do what he wanted me to do. Might need your help carrying boxes back
up.”

“So we’re removing objects?” Roy asked.

Steven didn’t know how far he could go with Roy and not
violate the terms of the deal. Roy saw him thinking about his answer.

“Never mind,” Roy said. “I won’t ask what’s in the boxes.
You’re already in a hard enough position without me making it worse.”

“If we get this done by tomorrow, the deal should be complete
and I should be free of Aka Manah.”

“If he holds up his end of the deal, that is.”

“Yes, provided he doesn’t change things around. The whole
deal was his idea in the first place, and he forced me into making it using
similar tactics.” Steven remembered seeing Roy and Eliza suspended mid-air in
the suicide forest, mimicking the pose of the hundreds of hanging bodies he’d
seen in the trees. This whole thing was Aka Manah’s doing. The terms were
entirely his, with Steven forced into it.
He could come up with a new set of
terms, and I’d have no choice but to accept them,
Steven thought.
He’s
only tolerating me now because he wants his objects so badly. Once he has them,
he won’t give a rat’s ass about me or Roy or Eliza. And hopefully that will
mean he’ll just leave us alone. And not kill us.

Roy saw the look of concern on Steven’s face. He slapped
Steven’s knee. “Buck up, kiddo. We’ll figure this out. You need me to do
anything, you let me know. And don’t worry about Eliza. She’s tougher than a
two dollar steak.”

Carrying the empty boxes down the many stairs to reach
Eximere, Steven imagined what it was going to feel like hauling full boxes on
the way back up. They’d rarely taken things out; they usually brought things
down, like food and conveniences, like a coffee maker. Most of Eximere felt
like a fully furnished rental house where the owners were perpetually away and
housekeeping services happened magically when your back was turned. After they
explored the house briefly to make sure everything was as they left it, Steven
left Roy to the breezy comfort of Eximere’s back porch and walked to the object
room, removing Aka Manah’s list from his back pocket. He scanned it – there
must have been at least three dozen items on it, each with a name and a
physical description. The names were useless since they were arcane.  

How am I going to do this?
he wondered, looking around the object room.
There
must be three or four hundred items in here!

He re-read the list, trying to commit the descriptions to
memory. He decided he’d start with an object, and scan down the list to see if
it matched. If it did, he’d put it in a box. If it didn’t, he’d move on. He
mapped out a route he’d follow in the room so he didn’t duplicate his efforts.

It was tedious and slow.
At least I’ll have seen them all
when this is finished,
he thought as he moved to the next object.
I
should be cataloging them as I go, but I don’t have time.
After a dozen
tries, he found an object he felt matched an item on the list. It had the shape
of a pine cone, and when he dropped into the River it changed to look like a
flat, ovular piece of black marble. He could see tiny specks moving in the
darkness of it, looking like miniature stars.

Damn,
he thought.
Is that a universe in there?

He dropped out of the River and gently picked up the pine
cone, gingerly placing it into the box. It rolled a little to one side, and he
imagined a billion catastrophes occurring for trillions of unknown people and
planets.

It unnerved him.

He knelt next to the box and took a picture of the tilting
pine cone.
At least I can document the ones I give to him,
he thought.

Since they’d liberated Eximere from Anita and discovered all
of its treasures, Steven and Roy were able to return several books from the
library to their rightful owners. The objects in this room were much harder to
figure out than the books. They were all stolen by James Unser, the architect
of Eximere and son of Anita, a self-loathing gifted who sought to destroy the
gift in others. He was successful to a disarming degree, and he kept the books
and objects of the people he ruined, locking them away in here so that their
heirs couldn’t find them and use them.

Steven and Roy considered the book their ancestors had left
to them to be invaluable. It bothered both of them that others had such a
valuable resource stolen from them, and they felt compelled to reunite the
books in Eximere with their rightful owners.

But the objects were a different story. They had no idea what
most of the objects were, how they worked, or what they did. There were no instruction
manuals and nothing to read that might give a clue as to whom they originally
belonged to.
Aka Manah might have once owned these things,
Steven
thought as he observed the next object,
but he might have just known about
them, and put them on this list as a way to get them. There’s no trail of
ownership that can be checked. I’m just going to have to hand over the ones
he’s identified, whether they’re his or not. I don’t have a way to prove otherwise,
and Eliza’s life is at risk.

He found three more objects that matched the list by the time
he reached what he figured was the halfway point. He turned when he heard Roy
come into the room.

“Just checking that you’re OK,” Roy said, strolling in like
he was bored. “Didn’t want you lying in a coma on the floor needing help
because you’d stuck yourself with a crazy contraption or something.”

“I’m fine,” Steven said, letting the list drop to his side
and taking a moment to rub his eyes.

“You look tired,” Roy said. “By the way, I found two more
books that look promising. We can see about returning them once you’re done
with your demon.”

“What time is it?”

“Just after eight. I was falling asleep in the library,
probably from getting no sleep last night.”

“Do you want to rest until we leave?” Steven asked. “I’m nearly
done, maybe another hour or so, then we can go.”

“No, I’m up now, I’ll stay up,” Roy said, looking down into
the boxes that held the objects Steven had removed from the shelves. “I want to
make sure you survive this room. Lots of deadly stuff in here. It looks like we
won’t have too much to carry out, if this is most of it.”

“Unless I come across something big,” Steven said, continuing
with his search.

Roy turned and walked out of the room, leaving Steven to his
business. He went back into the library, but he didn’t want to sit down and
fall asleep again.

Instead, he walked to the back doors and down the wide steps
into the yard. In the distance was the banyan tree that had first captured his
imagination when they’d found Eximere. He thought he’d visit with Thomas for a
while. He grabbed the handle of a five gallon bucket of dirt that was sitting
at the bottom of the steps and walked toward the tree.

The branches of the tree were wide and covered dozens of
graves that Unser used to trap gifteds he killed. Roy sat next to Thomas’ grave
and slowly spread several handfuls of dirt from the bucket onto the spongy
surface. He watched as the material gradually cleared. It was dark outside, but
lights from the house and yard were enough for him to see the faint outline of
Thomas, suspended six feet down in the grave.

He found it easier to communicate with Thomas when he was
trancing, so he dropped into the River. He’d communicated with Thomas many
times since he’d found him; talking with his great-great grandfather was comforting.

You’re troubled tonight,
Thomas said.
Something bad has happened.

Two policemen,
Roy thought.
Killed because of a mistake I made.

Yes, that is bad.

Roy waited for Thomas to say “it wasn’t your fault,” as
Steven had said so many times, but Thomas didn’t.

You’re in deep,
Thomas said.
Almost deeper than me in the ground here.

Yes,
Roy replied,
it feels that way.

It bothers you that you don’t have control of it.

Yes, I don’t like it. This demon has Steven by the balls and
it’s pissing me off. He can’t talk to me about it, and there’s nothing I can do
about it. So I’m frustrated that I can’t do more to help. And a little angry
that I’m frustrated.

You must change the balance. Gain some kind of leverage.

I don’t see how,
Roy thought.
Everything with this demon seems very
one-sided.

Something will come along. When it does, don’t hesitate.

If we’re lucky, he’ll complete this deal with the demon and
it’ll be over,
Roy
thought.

It won’t be over. Once the demon knows he can get something
from you, he’ll keep coming back. It’ll never be over. You’ll have to do
something to put the demon off permanently, or you’ll both wind up doing its
bidding for the rest of your lives.

Roy pondered this. It made sense to him. Thomas’ advice was usually
sound. There was no reason not to believe him this time.

When it seems like you have no options left,
Thomas said,
and the others
around you have given up, that’s when you need to act. They will think it’s
over, but it’s not. Remember that.

Alright,
Roy answered.
I’ll remember.

And you may have to let your son go his own way, if it comes
to it.

You mean part ways with him?
Roy asked.
I can’t do that.

No, I mean defer to his judgment. You’ll know when it happens,
because it’ll bug the hell out of you to do it. Ease up on him when it does,
and be supportive.

I’m always supportive.

Not always. You’re a Hall, so you’re obstinate as hell.

“Dad?” Roy heard Steven calling from the house.

“Coming!” Roy shouted back.

Time to go,
Roy thought.
Thanks for the advice.

At least I’m doing somebody some good, stuck down here.

You sure you don’t want me to dig you out and give you a
proper burial?
Roy
asked.

No,
Thomas answered.
I’m enjoying these conversations with you. If you gave me a
proper burial, I’m afraid I might cross over and we’d never speak again until
you pass. I don’t mind being right here for now. Leave me be.

Alright
, Roy said as the effect of the dirt began to fade and opaqueness
returned.
Talk to you later.

I’ll be here.

◊

Steven woke to the sound of someone banging loudly on his
front door. He checked his watch – it was nine a.m. He got out of bed, threw on
a robe, and walked to the door. It was Jason.

“Did you forget?” Jason asked, walking in the house past his
father.

“I did,” Steven said, closing the door and following Jason
inside. “Breakfast, right?”

Jason fell onto the couch in the living room. “Breakfast,
then lake fishing.”

“Something came up,” Steven said. “I should have called you,
but I forgot. I have an appointment this morning, so I can’t do anything until
this afternoon. How about lunch, then fishing?”

Steven rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. Jason didn’t
respond.

“How about that instead? Jason?”

He lowered his hands and looked at Jason, who was sitting
still as a statue on the couch. As he watched, Jason began to lift from the
couch, floating a couple of inches off the cushion.

“Jason?”

At first he thought Jason was back under the control of the
Callers, from St. Thomas. Then he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“He’s fine,” the voice said. He turned to see Aka Manah
standing behind him. “He can’t hear or see us. Now, do you have my objects?”

Steven considered exchanging words with the demon over
Jason’s condition, but he thought better of it and decided to simply accelerate
things along. “The boxes there in the dining room,” Steven said. “There are
fourteen objects, that’s all I could find. Take them and go.”

Aka Manah walked to the table and opened the boxes,
inspecting the contents. He seemed pleased as he reviewed several of the items,
but he grew increasingly upset as he went from box to box.

“There’s only thirteen items here,” the man said, turning to
Steven. “Where is the Agimat?”

“The what?” Steven asked, walking to the boxes.

“The Agimat? Silver, with blood markings in the center.”

Steven thought. He removed the list from one of the boxes and
began reviewing the items he’d checked off. “Necklace, necklace…a metal
medallion, hanging from a leather string. Dark red markings. Yes, I checked it
off, I brought it, it’s here.” He began reviewing the items in the boxes, one
by one. It wasn’t there. He counted the objects, coming up with thirteen.

“You lost it?” the man asked.

“No, it was here,” Steven said, panicking, going back through
each box, checking under some of the larger objects. “I know it was here. I
placed it in the box myself.”

“Perhaps your father took it.”

“No, he wouldn’t do that. He only helped me carry the boxes,
he didn’t touch the objects. I’m sure of it.”

“Then give me a moment,” the man said, and his body shifted
into its natural form, growing taller. Steven saw the same figure he’d seen in
his bedroom weeks before, with wooden horns emerging from its head and a dark
leathery skin. The last time he’d seen the demon in this form, it had an erect
phallus, but this time it was soft and large. Steven immediately felt
uncomfortable.
He likes me feeling uncomfortable
, Steven thought.
It’s
all about power with this fucker. Intimidation.
He watched as Aka Manah
closed his eyes for several seconds, then opened them. He reverted to his
previous form, the man in the dark suit.

“Once you removed it from the protection of the place you had
it stored, it reverted to its previous owner,” the man said. “You’ll need to go
get it.”

“Oh, no,” Steven protested. “That wasn’t the deal.”

“It was,” the man said. “It most certainly was.”