In the mirror world
Chapter 17
It had been close to a week that Carolyn had been taken one night and her children the following day. Agitation wore on Captain Gregg's face like an old friend or an old enemy depending on his mood for that particular day.
He had been waiting above the old clapboard church over three days for the return of his cleric friend and by now Daniel was ready to overturn all of the principalities of hell himself. In those three days, the squall that he summoned grew worse with each passing hour and, no doubt had neighboring homes wondering if the localized tantrum would ever be pacified.
Leather straps, old and yet smooth as a young maiden's skin, wrapped tightly around his fist and he reined in a muscular black ghost horse with fierce blood-red eyes. It whinnied and pulled against the guidance of its master who gently patted his neck.
"Easy boy," Daniel said in a low soothing tone. "You'll get your chance, I promise you."
In response, the horse snorted its impatience, which the seaman shared in equal or greater measure. Captain Gregg himself had grown most impatient and commandeered his long-dead riding companion from his days in the military and now stood at the ready near the edge of the principalities from which earthbound spirits were prohibited with few exceptions. Under his breath, he prayed—no—he begged to be allowed into the forbidden realm where demons swarmed like angry locusts ready to devour the crop of mankind by way of their fallen nature. Lies, murder, hate and the like seethed through every orifice of their twisted masses veiled in whispers, seeking after those who they could easily devour.
Daniel had been keenly aware of the demon strongholds on the earth for many a century where men bowed their consents to dark powers unseen, granting them entire groups, cultures, and nations to spread evil like the black plague.
If it had not been for the staying hand of the Holy One, the evil would have entirely consumed and destroyed mankind in an act of revenge against its banishment from Heaven. One day, Daniel surmised, these will all perish for good in the Lake of Fire. The thought brought him comfort that was short-lived as again he pleaded with the Heavenly Host to allow him entrance into a battle in which he had had no prior experience. It had never stopped him before and he would not let it stop him now.
From the fray of the battle inside, a Warrior Angel, tall and broad-chested, emerged in front of Daniel's steed. With a blade that glistened brightly as The Son, he rent an opening and clipped a nod to Captain Gregg.
A sparkle in his eye and a glint in his smile, Daniel shouted his battle cry and drew in his right hand a cold sharpened sword of his time period. The horse, who was aptly named 'Storm', reared up on hind legs and screeched his own battle cry from the depths of his elongated throat. A bolt of lightning fingered through the night sky and together horse and rider plunged into a fate unknown to both.
—-
Clouds of dull gray lumbered in a sky filled with the promise of cold dreary rain to come and Carolyn stepped away from the balcony window of a high-rise New York apartment. On her trembling hand, she eyed the single karat diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. She swallowed hard again, the thick lump in her throat refusing to dislodge.
"I can't do this," she muttered, feeling the tears swell in her eyes. "But what choice do I have?"
In her mind, Carolyn revisited the events of the last week as she did every day since that night in Norrie's parking lot where Blair had taken her. His intentions may have been good, maybe even considered honorable, but the result had become nothing short of disastrous and now she was being forced into an arranged marriage, not of her own choosing.
Her initial response, as she recalled, was out loud laughter followed most closely by the grinding stone of shock and disbelief. Blair had the misfortune of telling Carolyn that the mob had taken Candy and Jonathan into their custody and held them hostage until the unifying ceremony had been completed. Her hands still bound and bleeding from the twine, she back-slapped the man, leaving behind a tender bruised eye that must have surely stung to the touch.
Blair's only remark for such a strike to him was, "I know I deserved that."
With a switchblade, he had cut her bonds and raised the weeping woman to her feet. Gently, Blair guided her up the stairs while blotting her wounds with one of his monogrammed handkerchiefs.
In a teary-eyed daze, Carolyn was brought before a man whose girth rivaled the reputation of the nefarious group he represented. Everyone else in the room referred to this man as 'the Boss' and walked around him as if he made of gold and was meant to be worshiped.
The boss was assessing her figure; Carolyn could see that and the thought made her skin crawl. He grabbed her hand and, by sheer instinct of repulsion, she yanked it back. With fat hands, the boss pulled a cigar from a humidor in the living room that was already stale from smoke, clipped the end, and pointed it at her like she were a misbehaving child.
"You better learn to get in line, lady. You're gettin' married soon."
He then turned to Blair, shoved the wedding rings into his hand, and said, "The boys will see you two home. And put a steak on that eye, Thompson!" he added and laughed.
Carolyn had been allowed to speak on the phone with Candy and Jonathan. She knew the two must have been frightened, but they were doing their best not to let it be heard in their voices, although Candy's tone touched more on anger than fright. She assured them that they would be reunited soon, but when they asked about Captain Gregg, Carolyn lost her composure and broke into sobs.
Now, on this day, Carolyn stood in front of a full-length mirror wearing a heavily beaded white satin sheath that fell a few inches above her knee. She pulled on the matching short jacket and felt the tugging in her arms that told her it was just a bit too snug. The dress was inappropriate for a woman of her age, she thought, and just as inappropriate as the marriage itself. As a bride, she should have been thrilled at what this afternoon would bring, but the reverse was true and now her bottom lip trembled from the sure onset of more tears.
Since the night Carolyn had been taken, she had wrapped herself in a blanket of hope that somehow her ghost Captain would find her and set things right as only he could. But as each day passed, her blanket of hope was coming unraveled until only mere threads remained. If he did not appear soon, she would be forced to become 'Mrs. Blair Thompson'.
—-
The change was unmistakable, Captain Gregg thought as he passed into the demon realm. Was his spirit body adapting to the environment? His skin had turned a blueish white, with the paleness of a winter's moon and his hair reflected a muted silver like a much-circulated half dollar. The steed that he rode reflected the same and the once blood-red eyes became a steely gray.
Upon entering this forbidden place, the Angel touched his sword to Daniel's in a transfer of power where white flames danced in unison on the blade. Then he touched the sword to the Captain's forehead and all at once, the seaman was not only in sync with all of the other Angels, but he instinctively knew how to proceed against the demon hoard that hurled itself in his direction with a whirlwind of gnashing teeth and long curved talons.
One more savage cry and Captain Gregg, on horseback, leaped at the hoard, sweeping his sword from side-to-side, cutting his enemy down without mercy. The few that had escaped his sword were trodden under the hoofs of the mighty beast he rode.
Bone-chilling screams filled the expanse and in the distance, he spotted Edmond facing off a pack of demon dogs that had no fur, only bleached bone, and a scattering of sinew and gristle flesh. For a portly older spirit, Edmond lunged, dove and ducked like someone half his age and size. Fixed to a golden sash that the spirit pastor wore was a sealed flask of alabaster that he was clearly defending.
More Angels were drawn into the battle; whether or not it was to help Edmond, Daniel could not know for certain, so he dug his heels into the sides of his horse and yelled, "Hya, Storm! Go!"
Razor talons dug and tore at Daniel's calves as Storm soared his muscled haunches over the seething fury of hell's creatures.
"Back!" he bellowed. "You devil's blight! It will take more than that and I still will not yield!"
And for the first time since Captain Gregg's wife had passed, he was experiencing physical pain. Searing pain, to be more precise. Scaling his calves and into his knees ran pain as if he were stabbed from white-hot irons and with it came a liquid that oozed from his wounds, saturating the shredded legs of his trousers. Ignoring the injuries he had ensued, Daniel focused his energies on reaching Edmond who looked like he may have been backed into a corner with no escape in sight.
—-
"C'mon, Jonathan!" Candy said with a strained but quiet voice. "We're not staying!"
Her brother was keeping watch at the bedroom door while Candy was tying sheets together and lowering them out of a second-story window.
"Are you sure about this?" he questioned, scratching the untamed cowlick in his blonde hair.
"Yes. Mom's in trouble and she doesn't know where the Captain is."
She was tying the last sheet to the frame of a bed she had slept in the previous night. It was evening once again and this time the young teen felt she could no longer stand aside and do nothing when her family needed her. It was a risk, that much was sure, but weighing her options Candy grew more frustrated and the place that they were staying only made her want to leave all the more.
After throwing two sleeping bags from a closet out of the window first, Candy shimmied down the contraption of three sheets and one thin bedspread, finally reaching the bottom and there she fell into a garden of spent bearded iris.
"Hurry, Jonathan," she urged.
His hands wrapped around the sheets, Jonathan slid down with ease much as a fireman would slide down the fire pole and Candy suspected that this must not be the first time that her brother had done something such as this.
Candy rubbed her sore posterior from where she fell and told Jonathan, "Okay, let's go."
Earlier, the pair managed to stuff extra clothes and some food into the sleeping bags. They each carried one and set off on their way.
"Where to now?" Jonathan asked.
A look of smugness lit his sister's face. "This way." She motioned with her hand. "We'll walk along the ocean shore for a while and pick up driftwood to make a fire."
Her brother shrugged his shoulders loosely and the two did exactly what Candy had expected. Being an ingenious girl, she was planning their escape from the second day at the strange home with the three even stranger spinster sisters. Candy went around the house and quietly pocketed items that she thought would come in handy for when they would run away. She found a lighter, a compass, some change, a pocket knife, and had also been able to smuggle out a flashlight. In a small, hidden cove, they made a fire, ate pop tarts, and slept in the sleeping bags.
Before shutting his eyes for the night, Jonathan asked his sister, "So, how are we supposed to find Mom?"
"I have an idea," she responded, "but we'll need to get away from this town first. When they find out that we're gone, they'll probably start looking for us, so we should leave."
Candy was not going to sleep well that night for she finally admitted if only to herself, that she was scared. Very scared.
—
In a final leap, Daniel's horse exploded overhead and landing in close proximity to the demon dogs that had corned Edmond, he skewered three upon his sword before himself taking a blow that left a jagged gash over one eyebrow and down the temple of his face.
Without another thought, Captain Gregg reached out a hand to the cleric and hoisted the spirit upon his horse. Swords gripped in their hands, Daniel and Edmond rallied against the onslaught of the enemy hoards.
Within the communion of Angels, the seaman heard a voice that said, "This way." When he turned, Daniel saw that a battalion of Angels had cleared a path where the pair could press their way through. He yanked at the reins to make a hard right and Storm stomped his heavy hoofs in that direction.
Just as Daniel was almost clear of the hoard, a sudden cold shudder engulfed him from head to toe causing him to make a lurch forward onto the neck of his steed. He gasped a false breath and in his mind raced the phrase where one might say, 'Someone has just walked over my grave.'
In that very same moment on the earth stood Carolyn Gregg-Thompson in the company of six onlookers. All eyes were on her so that her heart beat hard against her ribs. A quiver shook her lips and in a breaking voice she squeaked out the words, "I do."
—
