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Chapter 9
Jude ran into a little problem come Sunday morning.
The unspeakable evil, as she was beginning to call it. It had been one of those days, the days that Jude would need a friend to stroke her back, while she cried her eyes out into their shoulder remembering the horrible day. It happened on the one morning Jude was allowed to sleep in the dark and cramped space of Old Mark's room. The one morning Old Quil was not hounding her ass to keep Mark's Mart in tip top shape, the irony was not lost on her.
So, Sunday. Mark's Mart closed on Sundays, a bunch of downtown stores did it apparently, and here she was, not sleeping the nightmares of last night away as she had planned to do, but instead glaring daggers at the newest addition to her room. A rocking chair.
Yes, a traditional American rocking chair had shown up in Jude's room. It was ordinary black wood, but it looked too old to have been made in Jude's lifetime, colonial probably, like the one put in those horror movies. It was rocking all creepy like, a near evil replica, it just showed up when Jude woke that morning, creak, creak, creaking her awake. When she tried to move it, it did not budge, and that is when the invisible shield around Jude dropped, the nightmare becoming more real.
"Fuck you," Jude warned it, "back off."
It did nothing of the sort.
Instead of burning Satin's rocking chair, Jude was busying herself in the washroom, fiddling with the ever dripping faucet like it was the one possessed and playing tricks on her, and trying to figure how it had become this way. This dripping faucet was something dark. Another dark and terrible thing, something she had not foreseen.
No Running Water.
Nada, even the drips had stopped leaking from the faucet, and that is when Jude went underside of the sink with a handy wrench, loosening the bolts, and only aggravating herself more by finding nothing coming out of the main pipe, "What the hell is wrong with this place, it's trying to piss me off," Judith swore under the sink, and then went to the main water supply outside of the convenience store, messing with that too, and to her horror the pipes ran empty, nothing, completely dry, and she was really suffering for it now.
For the better part of the day there was no washing dishes, clothes, and no washing period, and absolutely no one handy to help her, her big ol' pride made her stop from calling Billy.
"He's busy with his son," she reminded herself of Billy's earlier explanations, "he can't be bothered," she talked to her warmed breakfast that she had made for Old Quil the day before, leftovers that tasted bland in her mouth, not giving her the reprieve of distracting her from the creaking from upstairs, the immovable rocking chair, "I have to fix this myself, before everyone gets here tomorrow," she cast a glance when the creaking stopped.
It bothered her, the silence.
This place was too sad, too cold without extra bodies to fill it, Aunt Joy's chatting self as she helped make meals, Old Quil smoking to his lungs content as he sat on the kitchen's backdoor stairs looking out to the woods, and Billy Black, ever the busy-body, busying himself with chores here and there. Jude was honestly missing them, the way she felt without them, it couldn't be helped.
So, to cheer herself up, and feel just a bit like a rebel, Jude chose to put the radio loud, make herself a container of too sweet lemonade, drinking to her heart's content, and when the time came, she relieved herself in the bushes deep in woods behind Mark's Mart.
Of course Jude did it discreetly, it had to be at times the street and the convenience store were evidently empty, but she was not afraid to go outside during the day, she actually preferred being out here than inside, looking up at the silent swaying pine trees, cast in the familiar light of the sun, but during the night hours, especially this night to come, well, even if she told herself a thousand times not to be, she still was, she was...she was afraid of the room.
She didn't stay too long in the woods. The oversized panting animal had come back while she slept robbing her of sleep. It prowled in the nearby tree line with only the shade of night for cover. Jude could hear it howling to the moon, to its pack, and saw the massive footprints and broken foliage in the morning. It looked like wolf footprints, but they were too big for that, so she guessed it was some type of bear... with mutant wolf feet.
Yup, even without the visions Jude was losing It.
She called the one person that would judge her the least, "Oh God, Jude burn that chair, it has to be evil," was Casey's advice about the chair, among other creepy things Jude had noticed, "why did you never talk about this before? This is some exorcist shit!"
That was the damn truth, "I am losing my mind Casey," Jude rubbed her jade amulet between her thumbs, she willed it to work, "I don't know how to ignore it anymore."
Her pale-face protector and antagonizer already had the answer, "Yeah, so just come over to my house, and we can watch movies and eat take-out from Debbie's Diner. I owe you one-"
Casey knew her kryptonite, and held strong against the temptation she once again gave her, "You know I can't do that," for various reasons, Casey knew why.
The youngest Whitney just didn't want to let it go, "come on, don't make this bigger than it has to be Jude. Don't give me that bullshit about intruding, I already asked my mom, you can come and live here, come on Jude, where are you going to go? Where would be better?" of course her best friend already told the wicked Witch of the West, she was on Casey's team to move her and keep her closer, so for the days she used her visitation hours, Jordan could come and be apart of them too.
Despite their meddling ways, Casey did give Jude permission to come over to the safety of the Whitney house. She offered for her to use her shower, washer, and dryer, hell, even her very own Queen bed. Too bad she would never say yes, what kept Jude from saying yes was the idea of another heart to heart chat with Mrs. Whitney, or worse catching a lethal sighting of the ex, that is, if Conner was still on winter vacation from his college in California.
"No I got this," Jude had to, because the other option would shame her even more deeply. The idea of leaning on Conner Whitney's family instead of her own family just felt wrong on so many levels, "I'll call you later."
After their conversation, Jude knew, whatever she planned to do, this would call for some cunning.
Judith had to be resourceful.
She had to use her assets.
So, she got a gym membership.
"Have a wonderful day, enjoy the gym," said the trainer lady, and she felt like it was a reasonable option to get a decent shower, Jude definitely thought so when she sighed in pleasure to have hot water poor down her back, she missed this, and she took a gigantic bag of her clothes to be washed at the laundromat right next to the Forks gym.
As Jude waited for her laundry, she studied her store's inventory, doing the calculations for the week so she could present it to Old Quil. He had never asked for it, but she could still do it for him, just for her sanity she busied herself. Jude struggled with balancing a calculator on her thigh while she waited for her clothes to wash and dry.
The chug and spinning of the washing machine calmed her and she caught herself watching her clothes be tossed like slush snow being shoveled from the ground. Jude wondered how it would feel to be put in there. It wouldn't be pleasant that was for sure.
Jude jumped when someone sat next to her, "Do you come here often?"
She told the guy, not giving him an inch of a smile, "You scared me."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I just have that effect," said a blonde-haired kid trying to pull a sexy smirk, while touching his varsity jacket like he wasn't trying to draw attention to it. His cocky mannerisms reminded Jude of Conner's football friends, "I mean I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"
Jude stopped writing the calculations to get a good look at him.
The kid had baby blue eyes, and his pale blond hair gelled back with stray hairs up there and here at random places. Judith found it looked rather odd, who wanted crazy hair that looked like a rainstorm had hit it. Apparently this guy did.
"My water is not working," Jude said lamely, going back to her work.
"What a coincidence," he gasped in a mock show, "so is mine. So do you live on the Rez? Ever been to First Beach?"
"What gave it away," Judith teased coldly and he laughed.
He was a good kid, but not her type. The whole being too young part. Judith had graduated from jocks to men a long time ago.
"You have pretty eyes," he told her while Jude got up to shove her wet clothes inside the dryer, "do you have a boyfriend?"
"Do you have a girlfriend," she shot back, rolling her eyes, because she did not have time for a lost puppy. She focused on her writing, docking all the supplies with the tallies, and going back to do the math again, just in case, he leaned too close to read her paper. She pulled it to her chest and gave him a tight-lipped smile. Jude had enough people to worry about than some stranger trying to get lucky with a cougar. This guy was not getting it.
Avoiding someone is not an invitation.
"You are making me uncomfortable," she said to him, but the guy found it funny. Jude did not.
"Oh, then let me introduce myself, the names Mike Newton, what are you writing there?"
"Mike!" the short brunette drawled out his annoying name, and with too much voluminous hair strolled to their seats in the laundromat, "my god stop flirting," she said slapping his arm playfully, "was my boyfriend messing with you, I am sorry, I can't keep this one on a leash," she growled playfully at him, and he did so in return.
Judith just raised her eyebrows, and decided couples are just plain weird. She left them to turn the dryer on for the next load, and went back to sitting, and trying to remain busy.
Mike was still smiling at her, so his girlfriend stayed too.
The girl asked spontaneously, "So, you live on the Rez?"
"Wow," Judith said, truly impressed, "you really are a couple. Do you guys read each other's minds or something?" Mike was the only one that laughed. His laugh made her want to fall over and puke at the sound. All immature guys were the same, they saw something sparkle and they were like, 'gimmie, gimme, gimmie.' It was endearing for a child, but in grown men it was just sad.
Mikey boy was making his girlfriend question herself by blatantly ogling her.
Judith could read it on her face, and so she decided to break the social barrier.
"Hi," she extended her arm to the girl, and was grateful she was not left hanging.
"Jessica Stanley," she shook hands with her, a pleasant smile on her face, proving her wrong about her stigma of jealousy, Judith introduced herself too, "Judith Clearwater, I do live in La Push."
"Hey Mike, can you go to the car," Jessica kissed Mike, "I can finish up babe, I'll get the clothes, why don't you pick us up some food," his focus was stolen by the mere mention of food.
That was something all guys agreed to quickly, "yeah, I will meet you at the car. Okay see you guys around," he winked at them and left.
As soon as he left the brunette with big hair and personality, turned she-devil, shattering the false peace, "If I ever see you staring at my Mike, hussy, I will personally see to it that you regret it! Am I understood." Hussy, who used that word? It sounded like something a grandma would say to a prostitute in the nineteenth century.
"Excuse me."
"You heard me," Jessica said, poking Jude's arm hard, "or are you deaf?"
The poke didn't hurt, in fact Jude had been poked harder by babies. It was the act of being poked by a ridiculously jealous girlfriend that made had such a profound effect on Judith. She didn't want to sink to her level, but Jessica made it so tempting. She felt the flare of pure rage tempt her. There was no one around to see. It would be so easy to teach this girl a lesson in respect. Judith had to crack her neck to calm down.
"I am still confused," Judith said getting up to her six foot height, she was already too tall in front of the small chihuahua girl, "you said that you are going to do something I would regret?"
"Well I, what I meant was-"
"That you wanted to fight me? is that what you want, to make sure I don't' flirt with your ridiculous annoying boyfriend," Jude cocked her head to the side and lightly punched the dryer next to them, making Jessica jump, this was fun, "What did you have in mind for me Jessica?"
"I-uh," she fumbled back, but kept her courage, "I have friends in high places. I know the Chief of Police," she threatened her.
"Huh, I don't answer to the Chief of Police," she had said that a long time ago, "I don't answer to anyone," she repeated and was not afraid of saying so again, but that struck her as funny, "your Bella's friend?"
"I am," Jessica shot right back, she sniffed, "why are you asking?"
The flare of pure rage had cooled to a satisfied superiority, "she knows you talk shit about her, you better watch out, I hear she is dating Jacob Black and he looks big enough to break your boyfriend in two, I might enjoy watching him do it," that was the damn truth.
"That isn't true," she shot back, "Charlie wouldn't-"
"I know Charlie," Jude shot right back, "longer than you do, and I know if he ever knew the shit you were pulling with his daughter," she clucked her tongue, "well that would be fun to watch too."
"Please, don't," Jessica begged poorly.
"I would like nothing better but to see you get your ass handed to you," she confessed, remembering this was how she got into fights at Forks, and conversations like these had added to her impressive resume of detentions and suspensions. At Forks one talked down to her or started a fight with her, without getting some hair pulled and teeth knocked out.
There was something about the fight that made Jude's blood sing. Maybe it was the exhilaration of doing something she shouldn't, but it was also the chance to show others not to "fuck" with her. Even if she did enjoy it when they did.
Leah had been so proud of this type of sister. The one that was bigger than the law, and the one that had so much confidence in her cocky no bullshit attitude that it landed her at an overnight stay in jail.
That version of herself was not the type of role-model Leah was supposed to look up to, but it still made Jude feel better that someone believed in her.
"I-" Jessica's face was priceless.
Jude grew confident, poking her back, "Hm, how about you fight back, hussy," that sounded delicious to Jude, "you could slash my tires, no wait, that would be petty. I did that before, and between you and me there is no real pleasure in it. You could knock me out, and steal all my clothes, yeah, leave them on the road," Jessica looked like fainting, but Jude was not finished with her, "nope, not that. Not permanent enough," the poor girl's eyes widened as she leaned forward, "Hm...oh yes. How about I rip that ridiculous hair from your head-huh-how does that sound?"
Jessica was already running. No one came to get Mike's' clothes.
Judith felt nauseated after the satisfaction left.
There was a reason why they called her Crazy Jude.
It was not always because of her visions.
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"I didn't know who to call," Judith spoke into the phone, "you told me to call you when I saw something suspicious, Billy this is it," she looked around the door to her nearly destroyed room, "I think this is the real thing!"
That was an understatement, Jude had been near hysterics when she came home to find the water working perfectly, that wasn't the problem, the problem was the rocking chair was rocking like a demon had possessed it, throwing shit around the room with its energy, and making a terrible noise that she could hear it downstairs.
As she kept watching, it was burning the wood beneath it, as if it was carving evil marks just to push her over the edge, it did push her over, that was why she calling, "my rocking chair is possessed, no I don't know how it got there! I think this place is haunted Billy, this place isn't haunted is it?"
Billy laughed loudly until Jude shrieked in rage that this was really happening, "Oh," was his smart response, "so, you're not joking with me?"
"Of course I am not joking," Judith felt the rage growing more as she now sat in the parking lot of the still closed convenience store, not daring to even get close to it unless she had some back-up to help destroy it, "I am not joking about this, this is not something to joke about," she should know, ghosts were no laughing matter, especially the demonic ones.
Billy became serious too, "I'll be over there in a bit."
Jude was beyond relieved, "Thank you Billy!"
"Sure, sure," he hung up, and Jude looked at the obviously haunted Mark's Mart.
She mumbled through gritted teeth, "You're going to get it now," she said this to whatever decided to haunt her, "you're a real asshole Marks," she had a feeling it had to do with him, his spirit must not have really left the place in peace, refusing to leave after for so many years that this had been his home, probably didn't want her nosing around his things, Jude reasoned, which they would be doing later on this week.
Maybe Old Mark's spirit could sense their future demolition of this possessions? Maybe, Billy would be smart enough to bring burning sage to fight away the angry spirit attached to this place. Unless, this was more than a spirit, a demon, some religions called it, and that frightened Jude even more.
She said a silent prayer until she saw a car pull into the parking lot, she walked up to it without looking like she was freaked out of her mind, relieved to see Old Quil come out first, his signature grumpy face, followed by an incredibly tall man, that took out a wheelchair-
"Billy!" Just seeing his dark comforting eyes was enough for her to lean down and hug him, "thank you so much for coming!"
Billy held her worried stare, "No problem Jude, where is it?"
There was a chuckle going up the stairs of Mark's Mart, for once he was not slow, "Let's see this ghost, girl," Old Quil held a bat in his arthritis hands, slow running to the inside of the store, as if he was going to beat to death the spirit inside, "show me where it is."
Jude did, more confident in getting up the stairs, and waiting until she saw Old Quil's keen body get to the room, and for the first time, actually go inside Old Mark's room.
It was silent for a moment, it sounded like he was walking around the mess the chair had created in the room, Jude held her breath as she heard him cursing, and she made no move until Old Quil's aggravated face came back to the threshold of the door, commanding a frozen Jude, "get Billy, he has to see this."
"Sure," she did, and Quil helped a wheelchair bound Billy go up the stairs for the first time, carrying him in his incredibly strong arms, while Jude brought up his rickety wheelchair, and just like that Billy was able to wheel himself into the haunted room too, to see the damage that had made Old Quil call for him to inspect, Jude tugged on her necklace, and all while the Elders inspected, Jude and Quil waited outside.
"My name's Quil," he shook hands with a glass-eyed Jude.
"I know you," she muttered, knowing his face as she did some from the tribal school, from their older siblings, from her dreary memories form before, "me and Rachel babysat you. You used to eat paper," she felt bound to remember.
"Right," he rubbed the back of his head, "For the record, I promise to tell people we met at the movies or something. This just seems a bit too weird."
Jude laughed under her breath, still trying to hear what Elders were doing, she whispered back, "you're telling me. I actually have to live here."
It sounded like they were deciding something, until Billy said loudly, "Jude can you come in here!"
Jude braced herself for entry, going inside the room was harder than before, but there was Billy, Old Quil, even little Quil, and that calmed her a bit.
As she stepped onto the bits of broken glass, torn paper, she glared daggers at the mess the evil chair had done to the room, it had broken the lone window in the room, the hinges swinging outwards, it had sent Old Mark's newsletters torn and shredded around the room, and feathers from the ripped mattress had found itself all around too, whirling in the air, rolling against the scorched marked floor, all her possessions,
"Oh God," Jude touched her mouth in sadness, all she had brought from New Mexico looked like someone had made up a game of throwing them as hard as they could into the walls, denting the wood in places, and leaving them no option to know that this was nothing sort of a malevolent spirit.
"What happened here Jude," Billy asked her.
"The spirit," Jude shook her head in anguish, "this is so much worse than before, this has to be stopped."
"What happened here Jude," Billy asked her again, with more feeling.
"I-" the look he was giving her, the look Quil was giving her, they couldn't mean, "Billy you don't think I did this?"
Old Quil grunted behind him, answering for him, "who else would have done it? There is no one else here? This looks like a girl throwing a fit because she didn't get what she came for," he dared, "this looks like you are making a big deal so I don't press charges for you vandalizing my property!"
"I would never," Jude looked straight at the damn evil chair, "it's right there, that is what did it."
The Satan spawn chair started rocking again, probably just to tease her., that awful noise refusing to stop.
Judith pointed at the rocking chair, "see it moved! It will start everything up again, we have to stop it!"
"Judith," Billy said, rolling up to her, and calming her by putting his large creased hand in hers, it was warm in her cold shaky palm, and then her Chief said something that haunted her more than the chair ever would, "I don't see any rocking chair Jude," he dropped his gaze, "that's because there never was one."
Old Quil grunted in a agreement once again, crossing his arms at her.
Jude looked back to where the chair was, rocking, and yet, she was the only one that could see it.
Only the things you can see, things that are not there, they had told her time and time again.
Quil, Old Quil, and Billy all looked at Jude's gaping mouth as she grappled with the reason why her mind did this to her, and that was when she knew, things would always go back to the white coats and needles, to the distrust, to the pity, and she wanted to sink into the termite floorboards, and never show her face again.
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Jude was speechless.
Even now as she leaned against the railing screwed against the hallways of Hillcrest Retirement Homes. Casey had called earlier and all she could tell her is that she had moved, not to where, not with whom, but that she would not accept any more calls for the rest of the day. It was probably not the best way to speak to her hyper aware best friend, but it would have to do. While she leaned against the wall, wanting to become apart of it, two elderly snow and grey haired woman chatted it up in their wheelchairs, eyeing her, pretending not to notice Jude's dead grey eyes as they were taken by certified nursing assistants to the dining room for their expensively prepared lunch.
One tapped her glasses, gossiping with the other, "Did you see that?"
"Yes," one waved back as Jude stared back, "what a pretty Indian girl," one of them commented as if she couldn't hear them, and Jude didn't even have the brain capacity to roll her eyes.
Billy had brought her here after Old Quil had revoked her right to step within fifty feet of Mark's Mart.
There went her room, her job, her sanity it would seem had gone with her expulsion... thankfully her employer wasn't pressing charges, but that could change with the way the Elders were looking at her as they passed into the room Billy had reserved for them to meet.
Apparently, old people were friends with other old people, and they pulled strings at the retirement home so Billy could get a meeting together between members of both the Hoh, the Makah, for what? Jude had no idea, it was not like she was all that important, her delusional hallucinations of rocking chairs didn't need to be a Council problem.
"Jude?"
She looked up only to curse again, her parents, Seth, and Leah were there, and her voice caught in her breath, suddenly her un-ironed clothes, her crappy haired bun, and her too short bitten black nails seemed like a disgrace in front of them.
Here they all were, and she didn't know what the hell to do with them. Jude beheld her family, tearing apart the spun stories that they wanted nothing to do with her. The stories that she would only bring them nothing but pain and regret for taking her back. Not one of them balked with her glance, knowing there was no such thing people could say that would make it as worse as it was, looking at your family, and not being able to go to them.
"Harry," the door to the meeting door opened, "thank you guys for coming," Billy opened the door to the room the Elders were in across the hallway, he looked down the hallway to her, his eyes betraying nothing as he avoided the heavy air hanging between the Clearwater family, "we will be with you in a moment Jude. Stay there."
"Sure Billy," Jude croaked, not recognizing her voice.
Her family went in, her mother first giving her a side-along look that had a tear going down her cheek, her father discarding the opportunity to look her way, Leah giving her a meaner look than the rest, and Seth, so sweet Seth gave her a little smile that gave her the hope to smile back.
The door closed, and Jude was once again alone in the wheelchair frenzy of wheelchairs, chattering, sing-song voices of the elderly of the Forks Community center.
"I'm fucked." There was no better way to say it.
"Watch your language, young lady."
Jude tensed, "Oh I am sorry," she said, because while she had been in her own little world, a little old lady in a wheelchair, boxed glasses, skinny frame, and darker skin than the regular pale-skin had wheeled up close to her, inspecting her, and frowning as if she found her lacking in all decency.
"Come on, come with me," she nodded for Jude to follow her as she wheeled to the dining room, "come on, you look hungry kid."
She was told to stay put, "I am here for-"
"The Elders take their sweet time, you will be waiting forever, come with me, I can get you started on something while they do what they have to do," that shut Jude up, and so she carefully went to sit with her at the elderly woman's supposed regular table. Honestly, Jude did not know what she was doing, following orders from a cute little stranger, but a stranger all the same, because when Billy told her to stay put, she was going to do it, but the confrontation had left her stomach grumbling.
And so here she was, while the nurses didn't ask what she was doing, Jude went along with it.
"Put that on, I bet you know what that is for," Jude was given a thick cream napkin, and for the first time in years Jude actually used it for her lap, "you can eat Mrs. Bordwell's food," the little Lady said discreetly, "she doesn't eat this food anyways, they always mix up her order, she can't eat solids, like they ever listen," she took the formed food form her fellow wheelchair table partner, that seemed only to be mumbling one word, slacked jaw, drool coming out the side of her mouth, and the sight bothered Jude. Made her uncomfortable to even be taking food from someone in general.
It felt wrong, "I shouldn't. I'm sorry."
"Do it! She eats only puree, look at this stuff, it's going to go to waste," said the pushy little old lady.
As Jude began to eat the offered food of mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and sirloin steak, she couldn't help but enjoy it, it was divine, she patted her lips like the little lady told her to do, and that is when the incapacitated Mrs. Bordwell became excited.
She said one word, "Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea," the repetitive woman muttered the one word with zest, her eyes trained on Jude, no matter if she shifted, she repeated the word to her.
"What does that mean?" Jude had to ask her little old lady, "Moonsea?"
The little lady leans forward to ask her friend, "what does it mean Debra? What does Moonsea mean? Why do you keep saying it, the girl wants to know?"
"Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea!" That excited Debra even more, the drool leaking down her chin, and Jude had to lean over and clean it, knowing that if it had been her, she would have wanted someone to clean the drool form her lips.
Her little old lady watched her, "That's good of you. She has been repeating that word for years," she shook hands with Jude, "I hate when people call me Mrs. Carter, you can call me Barbara, half of the people in here will forget so it's easier just sticking with the one."
It still bothered Jude, "Why does she keep repeating the same word," Jude felt pity for the woman, suddenly her problems were not as bad as what aging could do to you, "did it mean something once?'
Barbara shook her head in thought, "Why does the mind decompose after years of use, why does the body betray us when we need it the most," the little old lady looked straight up at her, "Judith, you should know by now that the mind is a powerful thing."
Jude froze in her seat, no longer knowing who she was talking to, "How do you know my name?"
"Forks is a small town," Barbara leaned forward towards her, lifting her glasses, and said carefully, "and La Push is even smaller," she let that hang in the air, "you have been a very popular girl this last month, and honestly Quil has the biggest mouth this side of Washington," that explained some things about how Old Quil went for so many walks Downtown, "you need to be careful with saying that you see spirits Jude, people don't trust things they don't understand."
"How do you know all this," Jude was beyond aggravated, beyond embarrassed, and downright frightened with how much Barbara saw through her, "how do you know so much about me?"
"We don't have time for that," Barbara said seriously, "listen carefully, if you keep down this path you are taking, trying to make a life for yourself here, things like this are going to keep happening, you do understand," Jude was not close to understanding, "it isn't safe for you to stay here."
"Funny," Jude gritted through her teeth, "which of the Elders told you to say this."
"This isn't a threat Jude," Barbara patted her lips once again, "this is a promise, you are a good person, and I don't want to see you hurt by her."
"By her? Who is she?"
"Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea," said Mrs. Bordwell again, lifting herself in her wheelchair for a moment, "Moon-"
"Shutup Debra," said Barbara, "I am tired of hearing it, I swear if you ever say that word again, I'll hang you from the rafters-"
"Hey! No fighting," one of the nurses thought it was a wise idea to finally come over before Barbara actually attacked Mrs. Bordwell.
"I'm sorry," Jude said to the nurse, "she was trying to talk to me about-"
"Talk?" The nurse leaned down to crouch next to Barbara, "Mrs. Carter, were you talking to this fine lady? Where you talking to her about your grandchildren? Your daughter?"
Mrs. Carter didn't say anything, mute, unmoving, her eyes listlessly looked about the table, her arms draped in front of her, and then the nurse smiled knowingly. For a moment Jude was expecting the nurse to call her out, but in fact did the opposite, "Mrs. Barbara Carter hasn't' spoken for years now honey," she said getting up from her crouching position, "I was hoping you were right, her daughter has been trying to get her to speak for years."
Jude shivered.
Who had she been speaking to?
"Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea, Moonsea," said Mrs. Bordwell to answer her, that word had not been imagined, but she still had to make sure with the nurse.
"Excuse me? Does she always repeat that word," she asked the nurse, "Moonsea," the dreaded word was beginning to mean something to Jude.
"Oh she has been saying that for years, ever since her daughter died," said the nurse, "if you know what it means, you have to tell let us in on it," she said gladly.
She was about to wheel Mrs. Carter back to her room, when Jude stopped her, "where are you taking her?"
The nurse gave her a look like it wasn't any of her business, it really wasn't, "I honestly have no idea how Mrs. Carter got rolled out here, did you do it," Jude shook her head no, "well, she usually takes her lunch in front of the television in her room."
"Thank you, I think I am going back to the hallway," and so she did, regretting ever following a little old lady that had offered her lunch.
Jude had heard enough, seen enough to know that she had never spoke to Mrs. Carter, but instead a spirit that must have taken over her body, probably to warn her, get her away from something that was malicious, something that wanted to cause her harm- stop, Jude thought, she had to stop thinking like this, stop, before her mind became a madhouse.
The click of the door meant the meeting was over, and the Elders came out, her family close behind, and it broke her heart to see them stalk away quicker than they had come, as if she wasn't even there, or they were hoping to treat her so, and one day it would be more or less true. It was a joint effort not to go running after the fast-paced unit. She might as well not have been born with the way they kept their eyes trained forward, the would win every battle if they kept doing that, and Jude felt like a starving woman at a feast she could never eat from.
Look at me. Look at me, please, I need you, Jude pleaded, and still, nothing.
"Jude," Billy had stayed at the door, and Jude wiped the tears away, forever silent to what Mrs. Carter's spirit had warned her about, willing to take whatever he gave, because right now, she was torn in half for even staying.
"Jude? Can you come in here," Jude did come into the meeting room, expecting him to have a one-one chat about how she should move back to New Mexico, and instead she was surprised to see that Billy was not alone.
"This is someone I have been wanting you to meet," he turned to his left, "this is Winona, she is one of the Elders from the Makah Reservation," they shook hands, and Jude eyed her with tamed aggression, not in the mood to have another old woman warn her off from her family and her foolish attempts at rectifying her past mistakes.
Upon closer inspection, Jude could now see she was a petite woman, white-haired, in her eighties to nineties with sagging wrinkles around her mouth and forehead. Her skin was a deep brown, and her eyes were even darker.
The woman bent her neck, "Winona."
"Jude," she bent her head back at the woman.
For once, Jude was wondering if there was such a thing as time travel, because the elderly woman before her could have been a future version of her mother.
"Makah Reservation, I am a spiritual healer there," she introduced herself.
Jude could see it. There was something in the face that reminded her of the Makah. Stiff and proud. Maybe it was the dark eyes, maybe not... it was difficult to tell with the tied black feathers in her braids, she wore a traditional Makah furry cloak that hung down her chair, and on her arms clunk stone and shell bracelets.
"Let's just start off from the beginning shall we," Winona gave her a tight smile, launching into her statement, "you aren't crazy Jude Clearwater, you never were crazy as a child, and you aren't crazy now," said the woman, not condescending, or with an ounce of pity, Jude was too tired to feel anything but relief at the kind words, "and whoever told you that piece of shit lie wanted you to fail from the beginning, to tear yourself apart from the inside, and not understand that what you have been given is not a curse or a sickness," Winona looked at Billy that only nodded for her to continue.
She did continue, more softly, "I want to meet with you tomorrow and get to understand your capabilities," she places a hand over her heart, "for years people told me that I was crazy, and that I should be put in a madhouse, but I learned how to control it Jude, and your amulet, the one that I can now see for myself around your neck," she noted Jude's as she touched it, "is only blocking you from your true potential. We need to strip it from your protective barrier, and then we can reach the planes of the spirit world, a place where of our ancestors are waiting, and we can make an alliance with them-"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves-" Billy interrupted her fanatical speech of ancestors and spirit worlds.
"Ahead of ourselves? She can do great things with her gift," Winona said proudly, "and you shame her with having these nonbelievers send her to people that will only say she needs medications, therapy sessions, electric shock, she has suffered enough-" she said distastefully. That information must have been given by her parents, whom had not let the doctors walk all over them when they found out the treatments their daughter had suffered at their hands.
"I think you are presuming too much," he disagreed with Winona, "that Jude has these, gifts," Billy said carefully, "but how could we know for sure, without truly testing her capabilities, how could we really know-"
Winona clicked her tongue to stop him, "What is there to test? Isn't it obvious, it is obvious to me," she said proudly, "I can sense these things, and Judith," she whistled, "is a hot-wire," she looked back at Jude, "I want to meet with you as soon as possible to teach you, and don't you worry, you don't have to be afraid anymore, not after you learn the things I have to teach you," her fast-paced words were like a ragged imbalanced tonic for Jude's nerves, this was the first time she could get answers, the first time she could control this, and live a normal life, but the fanatical look in Winona's eyes, as if she was a prize, it made Jude a bit unwilling.
"There is no need to rush," Billy must have known how unsteady her looks made her too, "This week is Spring Break, we have things planned this week, we might need more than a few weeks" Billy said carefully, and Jude groaned at his need to lengthen the solution, they had to face it one day or another, "No, let's think rationally Jude," he said for some reason that he found as the only reasonable solution, "I didn't know you were going to offer all this Winona when we spoke before the Elders, you spoke of healing, not using Jude."
"I am opening her potential," Winona corrected him.
"Well before anyone get's their potential opened. We will think of this, I will have her at my house-"
"Billy, we can't ignore this, this is my problem to fix, you shouldn't have to-" Jude couldn't let him take this on, she was not the best person to have around, not stable, and here was finally someone that could help her, "you shouldn't have to deal with my problems."
"No, you are part of my tribe Jude, this is my problem," that shocked Jude to the core, even with the entirety of the table between Jude and him, she felt compelled to reach over and take his hand in gracious respect, "we have to think this through Jude, " she nodded her approval, "Then it is settled? Good, after spring break we can set up a meeting, how about then?"
Winona admitted, "I don't like to wait Billy, not when the best time is now," the spiritual Makah woman said petulantly, "but a deal's a deal," she said mysteriously, and it bothered Jude that Billy would strike a deal without her knowing, and allow her to stay at his house for a whole week, and running the likelihood that Jude would have to share the space with his incredibly handsome and underage son that may or may not know that she saw spirits on a daily basis.
Damn, this was a story to tell the kids.
