Chapter 11
[Sleepy Hollow Regional Medical Center]
After being brought in, Jenny lay comatose in a generic hospital bed. She remained unaware of the doctors working on her and trying to bring her back. She couldn't know that a concerned Jennifer Dubois sat in the waiting room beyond.
Beside her a monitor beeped out very weak life signs floating just above the flat line.
Still Jenny slept on….
[A Cabin Somewhere Else]
[A/N: The Ghostbusters belong to their copyright holders.]
Jenny's eyes blinked open slowly. She winced at the pounding between her temples. A sharp pain through her middle met her effort to roll over. "Ow. Yeah that hurt." Her nostrils sniffed a familiar aroma….
…the smell of a brewing coffee…a specific coffee….
…a Columbian/Arabica blend with hints of chickory….
"No." She shoved aside another sharp pain while sitting up on the soft mattress. She surveyed the log cabin room and recognized every picture….the table….and the fixings therein.
"Whoa! Hey, Kid! Whoa!" Sheriff Corbin cautioned. He shook his head at her firmly. "Just take it easy. You had quite the shot there!" He worked over two sizzling frying pans on top of his wood stove. "Give this a second."
She sniffed the air again. "You're eating now?"
"Why not? Body's got to, Jenny. Give me a minute," he retorted gently. He flipped three sunny side eggs in the first pan. Then he did the same with the ham slices frying in the adjacent pan. "Now." He set down the fork and spatula on the counter before walking across the room toward her. "Want it there?"
"I need to sit at the table. I can't just stay here. We're all royally screwed," she indicated while swinging her leaden legs off of the soft mattress and onto the floor. She ground her teeth as needles of pain burned throughout her system. Still she pressed herself forward.
Abbie and the others were in trouble. She had no idea of what was going on.
But something needed to be done….
"You have no idea, Kid," he interrupted her thoughts. He slid his arm under hers and helped her to the table. "Take a seat, eat something and I'll catch you up."
She hooked the chair weakly with an outreached foot and slid it out. "Th…there."
"You really need to be in that bed, Jenny," he advised pointedly.
She snorted sarcastically. "With Abbie and Crane about to fall into a massive trap? Not in this life time. Give me that coffee and a plan."
"Nice to see you're still as gung-ho as ever. Don't lose that," he complimented with a warm sparkle in his eye. He poured them each a cup of coffee. Then he split the ham and eggs between them. "If I'd known you were coming, I'd have made the hash browns too." He eased himself onto a metal folding chair and motioned toward his grey small pitcher. "Got cream if you want it."
"Thanks." She poured just enough cream into her coffee to change its color. Then she bit into her meal letting the meat's and eggs' respective tastes caress her tongue…to reassure her that it wasn't just a dream. She allowed him the barest hint of a smile before swallowing the mouthful.
"You're welcome. Unfortunately Moloch has trapped them," he informed her seriously. He sipped broodingly from the steaming mug in front of himself.
"Parrish. That creep pulled it off. I was on the way to tell them." She stuffed another mouthful down her hatch angrily. After that dose went down, she continued, "So what happened? Do you know?"
He sighed heavily. "Abbie and Crane went into Purgatory. One of them had to stay behind to take his wife's place so she could come back…."
"Abbie did it, didn't she?" She rolled her eyes. "She really cares about Crane. Can't believe she let the witch out though and stayed there."
"Abbie's thinking about the greater good too, Jenny." Corbin sipped thoughtfully from his coffee. "She and Crane can't deal with Moloch or its minions by themselves. Neither can you. Death literally killed me at the barn. It has buried Crane alive. It trapped his wife with the Horseman of Death. That demon has its forces ready to strike."
"Two of the horsemen are loose. At least it's not all four," she pointed out.
"For now at least. Its high priestess is still lurking behind the scenes too," he clarified.
"Abbie said they dealt with Serilda. She can't come back," she disagreed.
He shook his head. "They destroyed her body. Her spirit made it into this realm. Without banishing her back to Hell which they didn't do, her spirit's still lurking in the shadows. If Moloch brings her back into it, then we're in for an impossible fight."
She glared at him not wanting to give up the ghost without even the attempt to fight. "So we just let them roll over us? They just win without a fight? COME ON! Just because you're dead doesn't mean you just quit!"
He met her eyes with a firm stare of his own. "Jenny, I didn't say give up. I said impossible fight. You need help. Before they disappeared, Abbie and Crane had already started finding it. They'd called a minister north of Albany who had experience of his own with demons. He also reportedly knows people who can deal with our problem."
"Oh right." She snickered. "We're facing the goon squad and you want to call in the Ghostbusters? Corbin, come on. That's why we brought Parrish in. Now that SOB has stabbed us in the back. What's next?"
He shrugged. "Remember that job I sent you on to Central Massachusetts seven years ago? The small village just south of the reservoir?"
She did recall the outing in question. Even if she didn't remember the village's name, she clearly saw it in her mind's eye. She recalled how the Podunk slow pace of the place concealed the demonic stuff going on there…especially at the house north of town. "It wasn't tied to Moloch though."
"No but it's tied to another demon. The legend of the Accursed. You heard that. I know you did. He's in Eagle Plain right now," he revealed. "His stepdaughter rescued you from the car wreck."
"Car wreck?" Her mind swam with questions. She did recall finding out that Parrish was Jeremy. She sped back toward Sleepy Hollow to find her sister and tell her the truth.
Then she saw the Horseman firing a weapon at her car….
She felt an impact and all went dark….
"So I'm dead? What the Hell?" she protested.
"Not dead. You're in a coma. You have to go back, Jenny." He speared another bite of food and chewed it.
"So I'm supposed to just come back and all that? I'm not Lazarus," she countered. "Besides if I do, where do I find that kid from the village? Can I deal with him?"
"Just look for Jennifer Dubois. She knows where he is. Guide her to Washington's former prisoner island in the Hudson. Look for the four white trees. There you'll find Crane. That is your first step. The rest of the dominos will fall into place after that," he directed. "You remember where that is?"
She nodded. "Crane showed me the map before he supposedly destroyed it." Then other questions about the woman at the medical center floated through her brain. Dubois? She a relative?"
"Stepdaughter although Dubois himself doesn't know that yet. He and Crane knew each other back in the day but Dubois doesn't know that either." He put his hands up. "Mobius strip stuff. He will end up being banished by some wizard or something back to the colonial era. Apparently Jennifer knows that. She can fill you in."
"So if the Accursed is real that means that sorceress there is real? And the Pilgrim?" she supposed. "The villagers said they were just legends."
"They're real. Anne Lichtenfeld still haunts the old house north of town. She's also been seen north of Albany in Wabash. If Serilda gets involved and attacks Dubois, it could provoke a demonic standoff too. The Big Guy would really like to prevent that." He exhaled deeply.
"And the other stuff about Dubois is real too? People talked about him as the demon boy or something," she recalled.
"He has a demonic alter ego that he refers to as the "Child". The French call him Le Puer Malefique du Vendee after a standoff in that region with Lichtenfeld's ancestor, the Duchess Marguerite, in 1604. Yes he was back there too. He's your man, Jenny. He and Crane can work together. Just keep the mess under wraps before it blows up." Corbin glanced at the ceiling and sighed. "It's time."
"Time for what?" she wondered.
"Time for you to go back. Good luck," he bade. "Be careful."
With that a bright light blinded her and she knew no more…..
[Sleepy Hollow Regional Medical Center]
Jenny slowly opened her eyes and grunted painfully. Her nose wrinkled at the sheets' starched smell. The monitor's beeping annoyed her ears. She took a pained breath and forced herself to sit up.
Surprisingly…almost miraculously even…her injuries had healed almost spontaneously. She considered the almost paper thin gown and cringed. "Great. I really need this?" She considered the IV in her hand and rolled her eyes. "I really don't have time for this crap either!" She ground her teeth and eased the needle from her hand. She also removed the monitoring pads from her chest.
Almost immediately the monitor's alarm went off.
"And here we go," she groused knowing how anal a medical staff could be. Even if her ribs still remained a bit sore, she could walk. She definitely had more important stuff going on than lying back in some hospital bed and being fussed over.
"Miss Mills! How? You were in a coma!" an African American nurse exclaimed in shock. "You have to get back to bed!"
"I've got more important things to do right now. Been to the Other Side. Big Dude healed me. Got to deal with serious stuff," Jenny disagreed while rifling through the closet for her clothes. "Thanks for checking. Gotta go."
"Get back to bed!" the nurse insisted.
"I'm checking out now," Jenny disagreed. "I'll sign the waiver stuff. Just get out of my way." She stuffed her things into the duffel bag beside them and marched from the room.
The nurse chased her. "You can't go! I can't!"
Jenny glared at her. "Okay. I'm really trying to be patient here. I am checking out. Just get the doctor or whoever. I'm fine." She headed down the hall toward the waiting room. There she found her rescuer typing something on her cell phone. "Are you Jennifer Dubois?"
"That's right." Jennifer stared incredulously. "How are you out of bed?"
"Not this again." Jenny could almost hear rushed footsteps approaching them from down the hall. "I have to get out here for my sister's sake as well as your Dad's. Okay?"
"My Dad?" Jennifer somehow maintained a poker face. "My father's nowhere near here."
The patient leaned close to her. "I know David Dubois' your Dad and you all knew folks back in the Revolution," she whispered. "Get me out of here. Help me before we end up in a big mess."
A man in a white doctor's coat strutted purposefully toward them along with two burly men in white scrubs. "Miss Mills, you must return to your room now. We have to check you out!"
"I'm healed. Miracle, right? I have things to do. Get out of the way," Jenny countered.
"Doctor, she was in a coma. Now she's awake and seemingly healed. I brought her in," Jennifer added.
"Miss, let me determine that. There's no way I can allow Miss Mills to leave. Regulations say…." The white haired man held up a syringe. "Miss Mills, this won't hurt."
"I'm not going!" Jenny protested. She looked to Jennifer for help. "We have to get out of here."
"You can't hold her against her will, Doctor," Jennifer insisted. "If she wants to leave, let her sign the waiver forms and let her go. Then any fault's on her not you."
"That's impossible!" the white haired man insisted.
"And I'm going. Keeping me here against my will is kidnapping, Doctor. Let me go or get ready for a lawsuit," Jenny countered.
The doctor shook his head. "Fine! Just go already! Whatever!" He turned and marched off.
"Let's get out of here," Jennifer insisted while leading them toward the elevator. She almost pushed Jenny into the car and shut the doors behind them. "I'm going to want some answers too if you don't mind."
"We'd all like some, Lady. Thanks by the way," Jenny insisted.
"You're welcome. Let's not give them a chance to change their minds," Jennifer declared as the doors opened to the lobby. There they found a woman watching them expectantly with a clipboard in her hand. "That might be yours."
A slightly overweight Hispanic woman in a blue set of scrubs frowned at them. "One of you Miss Mills? If so, you need to sign this waiver form at the bottom. Dr. Lieber told me just a couple of minutes ago."
"I'm Mills," Jenny indicated while taking the clipboard and pen from the other woman. She scribbled her signature across the bottom of the form. Then she returned them. "Thanks. Be seeing you. Come on, Jennifer." She marched through the exit doors and outside.
Jennifer shrugged. Papa, this is going to be a weird one! How does she know about us? She hurried (at least by human standards) out the door after Jenny. "Miss Mills? Wait!"
"So where's your car?" Jenny queried impatiently.
"Over here," Jennifer indicated while motioning toward her means of transportation parked to her left. "Where's the fire? And how do you know about my stepfather?"
"Guy upstairs told me," Jenny retorted almost flippantly.
"Come again? You were in a coma," Jennifer doubted as she opened her own door. Then she unlocked Jenny's side.
"I was Upstairs. An angel, an old friend actually, told me who you and your Daddy are, Ms. Dubois. We need your help." Jenny sighed. "If you know what he says you know, you should know about demons."
Jennifer rubbed her forehead. She was tempted to call her stepmother and ask about her passenger.
"Your parents don't know me. But you all knew one of my friends back in 1781. A guy named Ichabod Crane," Jenny clarified. "He and your Dad fought together."
"How would my Dad be alive then and still be around now? He's not immortal," Jenny denied.
"Come on. My source told me about the Mobius stuff. Apparently some creep will send them back to Crane's time in our future. You've been around at least since that time. I've been to your Dad's home village. I know about that ghost witch, Lichtenfeld, and her Daddy." Jenny rolled her eyes impatiently. "I also know what your Daddy is. Anything else you want to know?"
Jennifer mused over her passenger's answers for a moment. She'd taken so many pains to make sure her family's secrets had remained as such. She wanted them to have as normal a life as possible even to treating them as "friends" rather than "parents" par se.
Now this woman could reveal everything….
Still Jennifer needed to know what would bring the other to her now. "What's going on, Miss Mills? What was so dire that you needed to wreck your car?"
"Fair enough." Jenny reclined in her seat. "Besides the demon on your Dad's case, we have a resident demon around here. Its name is Moloch. Right now its hench goons have trapped my sister in another dimension, buried her partner alive and are holding his wife hostage some place close to here. The local police captain, Frank Irving, was moved upstate for trial from here. He's the next target knowing the goon squad. I know where Crane is. I need your help to get there. Then we can go from there."
"All right. I'll know Captain Crane when I see him but it's been over two centuries, Miss Mills. Where is he?" Jennifer relented.
"On an island out in the Hudson. He showed it to me on a map." Jenny continued. "Look, Ms. Dubois. I know this is unbelievable. I'm sorry. But I just came back from the damn dead to get your help. Heaven just sent me to you. And that was after the Headless Horseman just knocked my ass in the position you found it in! It's crazy but I'm on the level. Really I am."
"If I haven't seen such things, I wouldn't believe you. Lucky for you. I know when someone's lying to me," Jennifer noted as she started the car. "No tricks or you'll wish I'd left you in that burning wreck. Got it?"
"You got it," Jenny agreed. "Let's just get going. That island's just west of town."
"For your sake, you'd best hope so. Once we get him, we're heading for Wabash. If your demon strikes, I don't want my parents facing it alone. Got it?" Jennifer insisted as she turned left onto the state road and headed toward the Hudson.
"Sure," Jenny relented. At least I've got my ride and found one of your buddies, Crane. Hang in there. We're coming!
