Post 25

“You look like hell, Peter,” said Jeff as he walked into the room.

“I was about to say the same thing about you,” said Peter, grinning at his uncle.

“Good one! You guys going to have yourself some breakfast?”

“We’ve got plans,” said Peter, with a sidelong glance at Laura. Laura was looking at him. “We were going to head out to Denny’s.” They passed a Denny’s on the way to Jeff’s house.

“Oh, well, you’re on your own for that,” said Jeff. “We were gonna fix somethin’ here.”

Peter started for the stairs. “No, we’re going to get changed and head out. But thanks for the invitation.”

They went up to the guest bedroom and got a change of clothes out of their bags. Peter headed for the bathroom to change, but Laura suggested, “Why don’t you change in here?” Peter looked at her as though she were up to something. “I’ll head to the bathroom. We both know your luck with bathrooms lately.”

Peter groaned. “Well, color me disappointed.”

His eyes drifted down her body as she stood at the door frame looking at him. She lingered, noticing where he was looking, and then turned slowly to leave the room, with a little extra bounce in her walk as she went down the hall. Peter walked over and closed the door. He got changed quickly, feeling only a little nervous that Laura would return while he was still naked. He felt a little silly about it when he was done and out of the room before she opened the bathroom door again. He walked up to the bathroom door and as he was about to knock on it, Laura opened the door and made him jump. Laura laughed at him.

“I’m ready,” she said. She walked past the guest room and tossed the clothes she wore the day before onto the bed. They went downstairs and out, with a shouted, “Goodbye.” Peter heard a murmur of voices behind him as his family talked about where they were going. Only some of them heard that he and Laura were going out for food.

“Do you feel up to driving today?” asked Laura.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Whatever is going on with me has been getting worse lately, and I don’t want to cause an accident or anything.”

“You’re going to have to give me directions, then.”

Peter guided her to the Denny’s, which was right near Sixth Avenue. All in all, it was easy to find. They parked in the side lot and went inside. It wasn’t very crowded at all. One section in the back was closed. There were two people sitting on benches along the counter on one side, and only about five other tables taken. The hostess took them to a booth in the middle section near a heavier, middle-aged woman who wore a brightly-colored sundress and no make-up. Come to think of it, Laura wasn’t wearing any make-up today, either. The woman was sitting by herself reading a short (maybe 50,000 word) novel, which was resting on the table in front of her. A mug of tea was close to her other hand, and her plates from breakfast were stacked on the other side of the table. As Peter and Laura walked past, she looked up from her book and stared at Peter with an odd expression. Peter wasn’t sure if she was just lost in the book or if it was his exhausted-looking appearance that she was reacting to. He honestly didn’t care.

Laura sat down first, on the near side of the booth. Peter sat on the far side. As soon as he sat down, he knew he was going to be distracted by the woman. The bright colors she wore drew his attention every time she moved to take a sip of tea. He tried to ignore her and focus on Laura, or look over at the front section of the restaurant.

Coffee was the first order of business. Peter needed something to keep himself going today. He felt like he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. The waitress brought them their coffee and some water for Laura, and gave them some time to look over the menu. Peter reached his hand across the table, and Laura held it. They looked at each other and smiled, then looked more closely at the menu. While they were reading it over, Peter could feel the older woman’s eyes on him. He looked up at her as she was looking away, then held his menu a little further to his right so that he wouldn’t be looking in that direction. There was something odd about the woman and the way she stared. Laura set her menu down, announcing that she made a decision on what she wanted. Peter looked up to ask her what she was getting when he jumped. The older woman was standing at their table! At first, Peter thought the waitress had returned, but he looked up to see the bright colors of the older woman’s dress instead. His startled reaction caused Laura to look up as well. Laura held Peter’s hand a little tighter.

“Excuse me,” the older woman said, her eyes fixed on Peter, “but you have the most complex aura I’ve ever seen.”

Peter was amazed by what she said. He almost couldn’t believe his ears.

“What did you say?” asked Laura.

The older woman looked only briefly at Laura, then directed her gaze back at Peter. “His aura. It’s incredibly complex. I’ve not seen the likes of it before.”

“You can see it?” asked Peter.

“Yes, I can. I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of weirdo, though I’m used to that, too. Most people can’t see what I can see.”

“Can you describe it?” asked Laura.

“Yes,” she said, and took a half-step back from their table. “It’s larger than I’m accustomed to seeing. It’s probably twice as big as yours,” she said, indicating Laura. “And it’s rippling around your body. It’s made up of a dazzling array of colors, and sometimes shapes. You’ve got a strong focus point here at your head.” She put her hand to her forehead. “...and another one here.” Her hand moved over her heart. “And from those points, it’s reaching out in all directions.” Her motions were somewhat exaggerated, her arms drawing large circles in the air between her and Peter.

Peter sat back in the seat. “I don’t even see all that,” he said.

“You can see auras, too?” asked the woman.

Peter nodded, then glanced around the restaurant and noticed that their conversation attracted some attention from nearby tables. “Would you like to sit with us?” Peter asked. Laura immediately stood up and moved to the other side of the table, allowing the woman to sit across from both of them just as the waitress was returning to take their order. They told the waitress what they were going to eat, and returned to the conversation with the woman.

“I’m Sam,” she said. She only introduced herself. She didn’t extend her hand or make any move towards touching Peter. Peter and Laura introduced themselves, giving only their first names.

Laura started the conversation off saying, “So how long have you been able to see auras?”

“All my life,” she answered, “as far back as I can remember. You see, I was born early, at a time when babies born early didn’t survive as well as they do today. I had a twin who didn’t make it. I was my mother and father’s little miracle. I was always a small kid, the smallest in my class my whole childhood. You can see I’ve made up for that since then.” She looked down at her own body and held out her arms, presenting herself to them. “And I never really got the hang of school. I was always so distracted by the colors and lights of the kids around me that I couldn’t focus on my studies. Oh, I learned well enough, but only on my own. I read all the time when I was by myself, and it taught me a whole lot that I would never have learned in school. What I didn’t know at the time was that I was seeing the auras of the kids around me. I could tell the guilty ones, the sad ones, the happy and joyful ones. Oh, and the lonely ones. I could spot them very easily. They were the ones whose auras most matched my own.”

“What kind of an aura do I have?” asked Peter.

“It’s so hard to say with all that activity going on. I’m seeing all sorts of flashes. Some of them, I would call happiness. Some would be anger. Some love. But they’re all mixed together and moving around so quickly. And you,” she said to Laura, “have a lovely, calm aura that balances his out nicely. I’m not surprised you two were drawn to each other.”

Peter and Laura looked at each other and smiled. Peter looked back at the woman again. “Maybe you’d have some advice for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he began, choosing his words carefully, “to be honest, I think I’m haunted.” He deliberately chose that word because of the connotations it had in pop culture and society today.

Sam looked intently at him. After a moment of inspection, she said, “You know, I think you may be right.”

“What I’d really like to do is to allow the spirit that’s haunting me to fulfill whatever it needs to move on, but so far, it hasn’t been able to do that.”

“What have you tried so far?” asked Sam.

Peter really didn’t want to go into detail about that, particularly since the things that have been happening to him were things that he has never heard about happening to other people. Instead, he relied on his weak knowledge of pop culture’s hauntings. “The usual stuff, holy water, exorcism, flatulence.”

Laura elbowed him. “He means flagellation.”

“Oh, honey, those things aren’t going to work for you. They’re all religion-based. What you need is something that’s a little more pure, a little more natural for you. You need something that’s focused on your spirit and the spirit of the departed that won’t let you rest.”

Peter chuckled at her words, having just gone through a sleepless night. “You’re right on that one.”

Sam ignored his laughter. “Do you have any significant spiritual places? Any places of special meaning to you as far as your spiritual journey?” she asked.

Peter thought about the various places where things along that line happened to him lately. He thought of the park in Golden, of Laura’s back yard, of his back yard, and of the hotel where Leanne was killed. He nodded slowly.

Sam didn’t miss a beat. “What you need to do is to go to that place and really try to connect with it. It’s a spiritual place for you for a good reason, right? You have a greater tie to the energy of the world there, a delicate, insubstantial connection and the further away from it you go, the harder it is for you to connect. You need to get in touch with the energy of that area, and try to manipulate it and make this wayward spirit leave your body and rejoin the great beyond.”

“That makes sense,” said Laura. “One of those places isn’t far from here, Peter. Did you want to try that?”

Peter was reluctant. He didn’t want the discussion to carry on all day, because he didn’t feel comfortable talking about this with a complete stranger. On the other hand, she raised some good points. He started to nod and answer Laura when suddenly, the pain in his chest returned. He was looking down at the time and saw his own aura flare out around him, as though it were encasing him in energy. He also saw some element of himself trying to leave through is chest.

Sam sat bolt upright. “Oh, my!” she said. “Someone doesn’t like us talking about this. That’s for sure.”

Peter was able to suppress the attack, or whatever this was coming from within, and hide the pain he was feeling. He felt as though Leanne helped hold him together, which made him suspect Wassim was ultimately responsible. He tried to play it off. “Yeah, that happens from time to time.”

“I bet,” said Sam. “Well, you listen to my guidance on this, young man. You seek out a place where you feel connected, where your energy is strong, and you purify yourself there. You don’t need to be whipping yourself. That’s pain in the physical world. You’ve got pain in the spiritual world that you need to heal up.”

As she finished speaking, another waitress brought their breakfast out to them. Sam took this as her cue to leave them alone. She stood up, said her goodbyes, and wished Peter the best. “If you want to, I’ll be in here next week. Maybe you can come talk to me again.”

Peter thanked her and watched her walk up to the cash register as Laura sat on the other side of the table again.

“Was that strange or what?” asked Laura, excited about their chance encounter.

“I’m glad we went out for breakfast today,” he said. “That never would have happened if you hadn’t said the magic word.” Laura had a puzzled look on her face. “Coffee!” explained Peter. They laughed. “Uncle Jeff makes the worst coffee on the planet.”

Laura was curious. “So you want to give what she said a try. Which place did you think you want to go to?”

Peter set his fork down and swallowed the bite of French toast he was chewing. “There is no way I want to try something like this at the hotel. Just no way. That place is just scary to me now.”

“Okay, what about the park? The one in Golden?”

“That wouldn’t be too bad, but if you remember correctly, that one ended rather badly. I woke up to some hiker shoving smelling salts in my face.”

“That’s right, you did,” she said.

“So that leaves my house and your house. The only thing that happened at my house was me waking up to my face melting. Oh, and nearly breaking the back window of the house with a baseball.”

“Okay, so my house, the back yard. When do you want to try this?”

“Wasn’t the whole point of having everyone over at Uncle Jeff’s so that we weren’t going to the house while Gerald is on the loose?”

“Do you really think he’s going to be at my house waiting for us to randomly show up?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Let’s go during the day. He seems like a nighttime kind of weirdo,” Laura observed.

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

“He kidnapped me at night, and met you in the parking garage where it was all dark and mysterious. So he’s a nighttime weirdo.”

“What about the hotel room? That was during the day.”

“True, but it was inside. I think we’ll be fine.”

Peter was cautious, but still excited to give it a try. They finished their breakfast, paid and left. On the way out, Laura asked, “Do you want to go now?”

Peter thought of the baseball bat in the back seat of the car, and the last time he saw Gerald. Gerald looked huge. Even though he could hit a fastball out of the park, the bat wasn’t going to do him much good. On the other hand, they did get away. There was something about the energy that Gerald took from him that made him hurt. Peter took some odd satisfaction from that. He convinced himself that it would be fine. “Sure, let’s go.”

They were right near Sixth Avenue already, so the trip to Laura’s house was very quick. They got out of the car. Peter reached into the back seat and grabbed the baseball bat that was still there. Then they walked around the house, looking around for any signs that Gerald had been there. They didn’t see anything. The door was still locked, and all the windows were in place as they should be. They even checked the garage, which was closed up just as her father would have left it.

Laura opened the front door of the house, and they walked through it to make doubly-sure that nobody disturbed anything. When they got to Laura’s room, she sat down on the end of her bed. Peter sat next to her, and let the bat fall to the floor. She touched his arm, and kissed his cheek. He turned his face to hers and their lips met. They kissed deeply, embracing each other tightly before falling back onto her bed. Peter’s arm was under her head. They held their kiss as Peter repositioned himself on top of her. With one knee on either side of her, he could feel the warmth of her body through his clothes. He immediately got an erection and pressed his body down on hers. His hand went to her breast, feeling her through her clothes.

As he touched her chest, his own chest began to hurt again. At first it was light, and he ignored it, but then the pain was suddenly unbearable. It took hold so quickly that he nearly bit her tongue. He rolled off of her.

“Peter! What happened?”

He was holding his chest. “I’ve got to get outside before this gets any worse.” He ran down the stairs and out the back door, all the way across the yard to about where he remembered the body of the squirrel was a few weeks ago. He fell to his knees, and put his hands on the ground. He wasn’t sure if it was the power of suggestion or if Sam’s words were true, but he swore he felt a stronger connection to the energy around him, and it was on the spot where the squirrel died that it was the strongest. The pain in his chest subsided, and his own aura flared outward. He noticed Laura running breathlessly up to him. “How fast did he move to get here?” he wondered to himself.

Laura knelt beside him and put her left arm around his waist. She had the baseball bat in her right hand, which she set down beside her, and then moved her right hand to his right arm. Peter shook his head and pulled his arm away from her. He was trying to concentrate, and she was a distraction to him right now. Laura let go of him, but didn’t move far away. She took up the bat again and held onto it, leaning against it for balance.

First, Peter controlled his breathing, and tried just to relax. Next, he tried to connect with the energy he felt here. He manipulated his own aura, as he saw it, and tried to reach out with it to the energy that he felt from the ground here. It was a struggle for him, and the slightest distraction at this point caused his own energy to retract. Slowly, he progressed to the point where he could target his energy directly at the spot on the ground that he was focusing on.

Causing the two energies to unite was a different story, though. As he could see, the energy from his body would get close to the energy on the ground, but wouldn’t break through. There had to be some way to get the two to commingle. The ground under him was soft, so he reached his hand to the spot on the ground and dug it away slightly. With as strongly as he was focused on the spot on the ground, he could see the energy from the ground pooling up where he removed the dirt and grass. He held his fingers into that spot and guided his energy downward into it.

He connected.

He could feel his own energy interacting with that of the earth. It was a soothing effect on him, and not at all draining. If anything, he felt more energized, even purified, by the energy coursing through him. It was at this moment that he felt a tingling, burning sensation in his chest. He looked down to see a dark red cloud of energy seeping downward into the ground, through his hand and into the spot he had dug away. He focused inwardly at the energy occupying the same space as his body. He could still feel Leanne’s presence, but Wassim was released. As Peter watched, the darkened energy filled the hole in the ground and spilled over into the grass on all sides. Then, just as it had before on this very spot with the squirrel, it dissipated.

He concentrated for a moment, trying to entice Leanne out and into the ground, but her energy wouldn’t move. He tried for several minutes, but couldn’t manipulate a pathway alluring enough for her to follow into the ground. As Peter broke his connection with the spot on the ground, he heard a loud crack to his right. The bat that Laura was leaning on split powerfully, half of the bat flying past his head. With her support gone, Laura fell to the ground.