Chapter46 A Family Affair

Once again, Deputy Hopkins looks at his niece's bruised neck and admonishes her. "Damn it, Cindy; didn't I tell you to be careful? Why in the hell would you be a smart ass with some schizoid, nut job ghost? Are you crazy?" "You're uncle's right, Ms. Lidestrom," the professor joins in, "that was extremely foolish; almost amateurish…I would expect better than that from you." Cindy massages the sides of her neck as she looks up to the ceiling. "I know, I know; I'm sorry. But, I couldn't help myself; that little bitch just pissed me off with her attitude." Deputy Hopkins stands behind his niece, looking down at her face while she looks up towards the ceiling. "And, that attitude of yours pissed off that little bitch; who tried to off you!" "That's right, Ms. Cindy;" the sheriff joins in, "lucky for you Chelsea was around to save your hide. Well Professor, I reckon this proves Beth was right…Chelsea's the good one in this…and, Mary's the ornery, little weasel in the chicken coop." "Yes and no." The professor explains, "Remember, Sheriff, we're only dealing with one presence, sharing multiple personalities; so, in essence, each personality's capable of displaying the same characteristics of the others, if conditions are right." "Now, I hate sounding like a green horn, Professor;" the sheriff asks, "but, are you sure there's only one spirit? I mean, Mary was on top of Cindy choking her when Chelsea somehow telepathically started choking Mary; sending her high-tailing it off to inside the barn. Then, Chelsea went back into the woods while Mary was yelling at her from the barn. Are you sure about your one ghost theory?" "Projection." "Projection?" "Yes." The professor tells the sheriff, "It's sort of like when you watch a ventriloquist act. The ventriloquist throws their voice to the dummy, making it appear as if it's really talking…providing it's a good ventriloquist, of course. What we have here is something like that…only on a much larger scale. This presence can make you see and hear its different personalities at what appears to be different locations at the same time. It's projecting images to give an illusion of multiple presences. Keep in mind, Sheriff, that even though Mary was in the vicinity of the barn and Chelsea in the woods, Ms. Lidestrom never saw the two of them at the same time. Did you, Ms. Lidestrom?" "No; I didn't." "You see, Sheriff?" "I reckon. This whole thing just seems so unreal." "Ah; but, that's what makes the supernatural so supernatural." The professor quips. Beth and Martin enter the kitchen; and, the sheriff asks, "How's Ms. Annabeth doing, Beth?" "She's fine now. She's sleeping." "Well, I reckon she would be after what she's been through tonight. I bet the little pardner is just plum tuckered out." "You have such a fascinating way of putting things into perspective, Lloyd." Deputy Hopkins chides, "Hearing you talk just makes me want to grab me a hot cattle prod and brand me something." "All right you two, play nice." Beth laughs; then asks, "So, what were you talking about?" "Well; we were telling my darling niece over there just how bone-headed that move of hers really was out at the barn…" Sheriff Faulkner cuts in kidding, "Now, Mike, she can't help it if she's cursed with her uncle's charm and tactfulness." "Yeah, Lloyd, I guess you would say we're about as tactful as a coyote at a Texas jack-rabbit family reunion." The sheriff laughs, "Something like that." The deputy goes on, "Then, Professor Rhyies was telling us why he still believes that there's only one spirit; even though there appears to be more. He says it's doing this through…projection, was it Professor?" "Correct." "What I don't get though, Professor; why's this spirit pretending to be Mary Howell, if she isn't dead?" The deputy suddenly realizes what he's just blurted out in front of Beth. Before he can respond; Beth cuts in. "What do you mean Mary Howell isn't dead, Mike?" "Beth; I took a trip today to see Roy Jameson…the former sheriff. He told me that Mary Howell was never killed that night." Beth shakes her head frantically in disbelief. "No! No! He's wrong! I read the articles! He's lying! Mary Howell was killed that night!" "Beth," the deputy says, "he's not lying; the articles in the papers were lies. It was a cover up. Mary Howell survived that night." Beth pushes the chair out from under her as she jumps to her feet and slams both hands on the kitchen table shouting, "No; she's dead!" Beth crosses her arms in front of her chest and storms off to the kitchen sink. She turns around, leaning back against the counter. "I know she's dead! Chelsea took me back that night! I saw the night of the murders! She took me to Mary's parents' room. I saw what he did! I saw the blood! I saw their body parts thrown all over their bedroom! Then, she dragged me down to Mary's room. I saw the bloody footprints on the hallway floor...the bloody handprints on her door and doorknob…" Beth becomes silent as she closes her eyes and lowers her head, shaking it slowly side to side; then, laughs. "Oh my God." She continues shaking her head, laughing, while tears start running from the corners of her shut eyes. Cindy walks over to Beth; placing her hand on her shoulder. "Beth? What's wrong?" Beth opens her eyes, wiping away the tears with a nearby dish rag, and laughs one last time, "The room." "What room?" "Mary's room. That's why she took me back there." "Why?" "To show me it looked the same. That's why Chelsea took me back there; she was trying to tell me." "Tell you what, Beth?" "That Mary wasn't killed in there that night. Oh my God, Mary Howell is alive; isn't she?" She turns to look at Deputy Hopkins. The deputy nods. "Maybe you should tell them the rest, Mike." The sheriff suggests. "There's more, Uncle Mike?" "According to Roy; she killed the killer out in the barn that night." "So, then Ms. Cindy was right on the money when she said that the barn was the epicenter of this place; right, Professor?" "It would appear so." "And, that's why she won't let me in the barn." Cindy hypothesizes, "She must know that I'd pick up on that, and know she was lying about being Mary Howell. But then, who is she?" Cindy looks at the professor and notices he's avoiding looking at her. "Professor…if that isn't Mary Howell…then who do you think it is?" The professor takes a deep breath, and exhales while taking off his glasses. He proceeds to clean the lenses, and then, when finished, places them back on his face before responding. "I do have a theory about that; but, I'm not certain if it's correct or not, yet. If it's all the same with you, I'd rather not say who I think it is; now. The Lazinskis have been through a tremendous ordeal this evening; and, I really don't think now is the time for Beth to hear this old man's assumptions." "Professor, please;" Beth tells him, "after everything I've discovered about this place, I really don't think there's anything you could say that would faze me at this point. What is it, Professor?" "Alright then." The professor cups his hands at the small of his back and walks to the back screen door; gazing out at the barn, he reveals to the group his thoughts. "Of course, I won't be certain until I'm able to talk with Ms. Howell, and find out exactly what happened that night; but, in my professional opinion, I'm willing to bet that Mary's…in actuality…the serial killer; Charles." Beth catches herself starting to fall as her knees begin to buckle. "Well, it looks like I was wrong…maybe you could tell me something that would still faze me. Oh God!" "Hold on there, Professor Rhyies!" The sheriff gets out of his chair. "How in the tar nations can Mary be the serial killer…or, serial killer be Mary…or, hell; I don't know! Who's who with these two?" "One; Sheriff," the professor starts to clarify his point when the sheriff interrupts. "Yeah; one presence…four personas…we get it, Professor." "Not exactly in this case." The professor goes on to explain, "I think that when talking about these two; there's only one persona…Charles. I don't think there is a Mary persona. I think Charles is pretending to be Mary so he'd be able to befriend Anna, and use her for whatever the Charles persona's agenda is. If Mary did in fact kill him that night back in 1961, then she would have been the last person he would have seen; had some sort of last earthly contact with. And, who better to use than another little girl to convince a little six-year-old girl to trust and confide in. Charles may have taken Mary's appearance as a child; but, the persona is still that of a homicidal maniac. I'm sure we can all attest to that after the behavior exhibited." "Then, this Charles has been pretending to be Mary so he can get close enough to Ms. Annabeth to use her for something." The sheriff's starting to follow where the professor's going with this. "Exactly." The professor sums up, "Anna's the catalyst needed to resolve whatever issues these personas have among themselves. They need her to help them through this. Since Anna's a child, Charles decided to use the appearance of the little girl who was supposed to have been killed here that night by him. By taking this form, he could get close enough to Anna to sway her to help him do what needs to be done in this equation." "Excuse me, Professor?" Cindy has a different perspective on the scenario. "Not to disrespect you in any way, or question your professional judgment; but, I think you may be a tad off with your assessment." "A tad off, Ms. Lidestrom?" Cindy raises her hand in front of her face, barely keeping her thumb and index finger from touching each other. "Just a tad." "Fine then; by all means, tell us what you think, Ms. Lidestrom." "Well, I think you could be right about Charles pretending to be Mary; but, I believe Beth's the catalyst." "Me?" Beth's stunned. "Why me?" "That I don't know; but, you're definitely the one they need." "Would you care to elaborate on how you've come to your conclusion, Ms. Lidestrom?" The professor removes and cleans his glasses again. "Well, to begin with; let's look at the frequency and threshold factors involving contact ability. Barring psychics, the next group most likely to be able to sense, or have contact with, spirits would be certain animals. Children would be next; followed then by adults with some sort of purpose to fulfill what the spirits involved require. And finally, anyone else who may happen to have a chance encounter; if in the right place at the right time. Naturally, I should've been able to sense, or make contact with this presence here. Anna, on the other hand, has two characteristics; she's a child, and she's serving a purpose…not as the catalyst, Professor; but, to ensnare the catalyst…Beth." "Please; go on, Ms. Lidestrom." She has the professor's full attention. "Then, there's the fact that Beth has had the most contact with all of the personalities involved." "Except for Charles." Martin chides in. "Not necessarily, Martin. If Mary's really Charles, then she has had contact with him; just not in his true form, yet." Cindy continues. "These personalities are fighting each other…each one trying to take control by providing Beth with various information; hoping that she'll help them win the inner struggle amongst themselves." "I'm beginning to see your point here, Ms. Lidestrom. What else?" "There's the frozen room incident. I believe Mary…or, should I say; Charles…was trying to hurt Anna; possibly even kill her. If she were the catalyst, he would have never attacked her that night. I believe Chelsea came to her rescue that night; and, that's why she was there. She didn't cause it; she stopped it. Then, she tried to warn Anna about Mary; or, Charles if you will. That's the only time Anna had contact with Chelsea; right Beth?" "I believe so." "As Mary; he warned you that bad things may happen to Anna…so, clearly Anna's an expendable pawn for Charles. He's trying to convince Beth that Chelsea's behind anything bad that has, or will, happen to Anna; trying to get her to side with him against Chelsea. Case in point; Mary told me that Chelsea was trying to hurt Anna because Beth wasn't helping her…and, that hurting Anna would inflict more pain to her than anything else. Of course; Chelsea's playing her games too." "What do you mean, Kiddo?" Deputy Hopkins asks. "Delilah's body, Uncle Mike. Remember when I told you I sensed there was a woman recently killed in the area?" "Yeah?" "It had to have been Delilah. Mary told Beth that Chelsea moved Delilah's body so it wouldn't be found; so, she wouldn't believe her. In this case, I believe Mary was telling the truth; I think Chelsea did move the body. She needs Beth's help in locating Tommy; and, Chelsea can't risk her being turned by Mary to help her." "Clever little fox!" The sheriff interjects. "I do believe you are correct, Ms. Lidestrom; my hat goes off to you." "That's my niece; she can use that brain of hers…not counting tonight's barn fiasco." Sheriff Faulkner continues the discussion. "Alrighty then, let's see what we've got so far. We're dealing with only one spirit with multiple personalities. I reckon Mary's out of the picture; so, we're left with Charles, Chelsea and Tommy." "That we know of," the professor points out. "That we know of. And, we also agree now that Beth's the catalyst. So, I reckon all we have to do now is eliminate two of the three left, and figure what it is they're after." "Is that all, Lloyd; should be a piece of cake then." Deputy Hopkins walks to the doorway and leans against the frame. "What I don't get is the relationship between Charles, and Chelsea and Tommy Steinman; they were dead back in 1927…thirteen years before Charles' killing spree. What do they have to do with Charles…or whoever?" Martin, speaking in a low voice, comments, "Unless they weren't dead?" Sheriff Faulkner turns to Martin. "What did you say, Martin?"