CHAPTER SEVEN

Out of the Closet

Jimmy was stunned by what he heard. How could HIS parents hide something that important from them? He studied it carefully. For something this old, it was still very shiny. He ran his fingers over its elegantly etched surface. He couldn't hide the smile from his face! This was so exciting! And oddly made sense, it explained why he found that Legacy book in dad's book closet. DAD'S CLOSET!

"Emma! Dad's closet! It has to be in there! That's…"

"…Where we found the Legacy book!" Said Emma as she finished his sentence. They all three jumped off of the couch in the basement and took off for the book closet in the back right corner. Jimmy flung open the door and started pulling books off of shelves. Emma and Layla were not far behind; tripping over various tools and Emma's "spare parts". When finally they reached the closet, they each took a wall, and all three were searching violently. They tore through the tiny library with such force that with in seconds the shelves were bare with their cargo suffocating the threes' feet. They furrowed their brows and squinted their eyes as they searched the walls high and low on tippy toes and haunches. After several minuets the group looked at one another and plopped to the ground on tops of old and discarded books. Layla shifted uncomfortably and pulled a large volume out from underneath her rump. They sat disappointedly, and drearily looked above themselves at the surrounding walls. Nothing seemed to glint in the darkness of the closet that would suggest to them a mystical lock of any kind. Hands on knees and heads on hands; Jimmy spoke breaking the tense silence.

"Well, where else would they put it?"

"I don't guess it would have to be in the house, maybe there's a hidden doorway somewhere in the book store." Emma suggested. Layla looked up as if deep in thought. She strained her eyes and tilted her head.

"What? I can barely hear you; you're going to have to speak up! Yes, yes, GO ON! I know that much! If you have something that we can use……" Layla trailed off still looking unyielding off into the basement. The twins became aware that this was Layla speaking to some lost soul again. They looked at each other both feeling that this was not the time to appease the talkative dead.

"Yes, the books, we took them off of the shelves, what about them. We couldn't find a doorway! The walls are solid!" Jimmy and Emma knew that they were both coming to the conclusion that this was not one of Layla's random conversations. This "spirit" knew something about what they were looking for. Layla slowly turned her head and looked towards Jimmy.

"It's your father." She said plainly. "But, he's fading in and out. I am having trouble understanding him. He said you would know. 'Jimmy will know, Emma never had the love'? What does that mean?"

"I didn't love books like Jimmy. Dad always said that Jimmy got the love from him." Emma bowed her head.

"Well your father says that it's the love of books. I can't hear you! Something about all you need is to love a book, to opening a book, and I can't make it out! Where did you go! For the first time I want them to stay and they disappear."

Jimmy stared off into blackness he was remember something his father used to tell him. He was lost in a memory. He was seven years old and his father had given him his first "Encyclopedia Brown" book. Jimmy sat on his father's lap as he slowly opened the cover and slid his large calloused index finger down along the inside spine of the paper to flatten it. "All you need son is to love opening a book, and it will open the doors of your imagination to hidden worlds!" Jimmy mouthed his father's words out loud. The two girls looked at him slightly stunned.

"Of course!" Emma exclaimed. "The key IS mystical right? Who says it HAS to be an actual door? I mean a DOOR!" She said as she reached up and grabbed the closet door knob and swung it to and fro.

"Well, if it's a book? Which one is it?" Layla seemed to voice what everyone was thinking. Then immediately started grabbing up books and rustling through them.

"How are we supposed to know which one it is?" Emma asked frustrated. All three looked carefully at each title of each book. There seemed to be a thousand lying strewn on the floor of the cramped closet. Jimmy became frustrated straining his eyes in the darkness so he reached above his head and found the pull chain attached to the light above. But, when he pulled nothing happened. He puffed a little in aggravation when he realized the new upgrade he installed on Emma's leg. Jimmy reached forward and grabbed her foot.

"Hey asshole! Do you not understand the concept of personal boundaries!" Emma spat.

Jimmy just rolled his eyes and pressed her second toe down like a switch. When he did, her whole leg lit up and let of a soft glow that illuminated the small room. Everyone sat and stared wide eyed at the glowing appendage in awe.

"Cooooool." They all moaned.

"When were you going to tell about this one!" Emma asked.

"Oh hey, I turned your leg into a glow stick. You'll be the envy of every Rave. There I told you."

"How does this help me wear high heals!" Emma demanded.

"How do high heals help you slay!" Jimmy reciprocated.

"It looks good!" She yelled.

"How is this conversation finding the right book!" Layla protested. Emma fumed, folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at her twin. Jimmy did the same. He thought to himself what an ungrateful brat Emma could be. Emma looked up and with her mouth agape and thought how Jimmy could be self righteous and sometimes a know it all. Jimmy narrowed his eyes at her.

"Look lets agree to disagree later. Ok?"

"Fine." She said sharply.

Layla rolled her eyes and went back to searching through books.

"I thank Goddess everyday that I am an only child." As all three continued to look Emma chuckled at Layla's comment.

"So you are one of those people that believe that God is a woman?"

"I believe that things aren't always what people necessarily say they are. Not everything is so cut and dry. I believe in the duality of all things obviously. That is why my patron deity is a Goddess of Balance. How and what you believe is all a matter of perception." She instructed.

Jimmy looked up as he had a wild thought. He thought to himself.

"What if we are looking for the wrong book?"

"You could be on to something." Emma spoke out loud.

"Hey clue me in; I can only hear your inside voices when I am tuned in, my antenna weren't pointed at you just then." Layla spoke.

Emma looked over at Layla and explained what was shared between her and her brother. "We are looking for some old and important book right?" Layla squinted as if in thought and nodded. "Who says it has to be some smelly old library book?"

Layla's ears seemed to perk at the notion. "If you really wanted to hide something wouldn't you put it somewhere that no one would think to look? Somewhere seemingly unimportant?" She looked up sharply out into the open basement. She stared intently focusing on something the others could not see or hear.

"Did one of them come back? Who's there?" Emma asked.

"I'm not sure; I don't think it's anyone. It's more like a memory that's playing out in front of me." The saucy medium stood up slowly and began to walk forward trance like. She moved towards the scene reacting before her eyes. There sat John Hogan on the old tacky couch and Katherine Hogan standing over him with a gray lock box in her arms.

"John you are in your forties now. I think it's time we got rid of these things."

"Aw, c'mon Kathy! I've had some of these since I was a kid! I still love to look through them now and again!" Layla moved closer and was able to see stacks of comic books on the coffee table in front of John. Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman. Lots of Wonder Woman. "You know you even like the Wonder Woman ones!" At this he stood up, took the box of out her arms and wrapped his around her waist and kissed her cheek. He leaned in and whispered into her ear.

"You're my Wonder Woman, remember? You even had the lasso, and you did that little…" She interrupted him.

"Ok!" she laughed at the memory. "Go through the ones that you can't live without and then the rest we will set up at the shop on a clearance table or something." He smiled and kissed her firmly on the lips.

"I knew you'd see things my way! Besides, I think I would like to save some of these for Jimmy. I think he'd like that."

"Alright, but don't take too long down here….. Superman!" She winked and blew him a kiss as she skipped up the stairs. He smiled back at her and turned red. When she disappeared he went right to work sifted through which ones stayed and which ones went. As he began to fill the lock box with the ones he would keep and one say pass on to his son, the vision seemed to fast forward and then return to normal as Layla watched John lock the box and walk straight threw her and towards the closet where Jimmy and Emma sat staring at Layla confusingly. They were speaking to her maybe even yelling, but, Layla could hear no other sound than that of which was in her vision. She followed him to the closet where he walked through the pile of books on the floor and through his children who continued to watch Layla and call out to her. John stopped at the back right corner and slid the box under the shelf which was now hidden by a stack of discarded books that made their way there in the tornado of searching that happened only moments ago. As John stood up and walked passed Layla he faded into nothing, ending her vision. Suddenly her senses tuned back into reality and the calls of the twins pierced her ears.

"LAYLA! What is going on!" Emma yelled.

"BUGGER! I can hear you fine now! I am standing right next to you!"

"Than what the hell? What were you doing?" Jimmy asked anxiously.

Layla furrowed her brow and pierced her lips. She looked at the twins trying to think of a way to explain to them what just happened without sounding like a complete loon. Then she remembered that she told them she saw dead people and she got over her self consciousness.

"I was watching your parents. Your mother was trying to get your father to toss out his comics and they were reminiscing about there super hero shag night." Emma and Jimmy both made sour faces and shook their heads as they tried to purge the disturbing imagery from their minds.

"Tell me that's not the important part; because, I would care to just go one living life believing that my siblings and I were delivered by the stork." Emma said with her eyes tightly shut.

"Americans." Layla huffed. "Might I get back to my vision? OK, as I was saying, I saw your mother and father and your father said he wanted to save some of his comics to pass on to you Jimmy. He put the ones he selected into a lock box and put it there under that shelf." She pointed to the spot where she saw John Hogan place the gray lock box. The twins looked at each other thoughtfully.

"I remember Daddy liking comics; Mom thought it was kinda silly for a grown man to read comic books. Especially a man with a doctorate in Literature. But, then again, Mom was a trekkie." Jimmy looked at Emma scolding. "TrekkER! Sorry!"

"I remember when Pop sold those comics. He was so depressed. He looked like a kid who, well, like a kid who had to throw out his comic books!" Jimmy mused. Emma gave an exhausted look.

"Yeah strange how that would work out. Help me move these books out of the way." Layla stood in the door way as the two began to stack some of books back onto the shelves above. As they came to the last few, they both squatted down towards the floor and reached under the shelf. Jimmy pulled out a dark blue sheet that had been covering it and then Emma pulled out the box. She picked it up and carried it out to the TV area and set it on the coffee table. Jimmy and Layla followed and placed their selves on the couch as Emma stood before them on the opposite side. Jimmy touched the dial of the combination lock. His index finger wiped away the dust that had settled over the years. He continued to inspect the gray matte, dimpled surface as Emma stood commandingly with her hands on her hips tapping her fingers and puckering her lips.

"You know all I need is too…" Before Jimmy could complete his sentence he saw Emma's glowing right foot come smashing down onto the lock box. Layla instinctively leapt back and huddled in the corner of the couch to prepare. He was barely able to lodge his protest and get out of the way, when the top of the box folded around the bionic limb, whose light now fizzled and then went out, and the coffee table fell and splintered under the force of the blow.

"I could have opened that the normal way." He said as he dropped his arms.

"Yeah, but it would have taken forever." She slowly lifted her leg off of the now steel taco. A couple of sparks popped as she lowered it back to the ground.

"That's just great Em! Perfect! Do you know how long that is going to take to fix! I keep telling to take care of these things! I've asked you not to kick any concrete, steal, or brick. Why don't you understand, that this shit is expensive and is a bitch to fix! And not to mention, our coffee table is now two boxes of tooth picks!" Jimmy exploded.

"Oh take it easy boy genius! You know you love it. Gives you a hobby!"

Layla sat still moving her eyes from Emma to Jimmy to the bent box on the shattered table. "That was bloody brilliant!" She squealed. "Do it again!" She begged leaning forward and wide eyed.

"You are a lunatic!" Jimmy affirmed. Emma shrugged and flashed a crooked confident yet bashful smile. Just then a tiny flame burst out along her plastic ankle and shocked Emma to where she jumped slightly and started slapping at it to put the flame out. She looked back up at the two on the couch a little embarrassed. Jimmy just shook his head in frustration and exhaustion.

"That can't be good." Layla blurted. "Sorry."

"Ok, now that we have successfully destroyed a safe, a table AND a leg, can we please at least go back to doing what we are supposed to be doing?"

Emma rolled her eyes as Jimmy tried to pull the door off. He looked at the girls and then tried again. This time he used all of his strength and bit down. The girls could see him straining. He looked up and saw Emma staring at him with raised eyebrows. He stopped and gestured for her to try. He looked away and up towards the ceiling as his sister effortlessly reached down and pulled the door from box and tossed it aside.

"Why don't you just cut my penis off while you're at it." He stewed and rolled his eyes. Emma leaned forward and held his chin in her hands squeezing his cheeks and smooshing his mouth.

"Aw, I would if only you had one!" She cooed.

"God, I wish I could still kick your ass" He retorted through his squished lips.

"Ok, you're a bad ass and he has no penis, got it, can we now find the door?" Came the demand from the siren on the couch. Jimmy's face turned bright red. Emma let go of him and looked at him a little surprise as she realized his crush on their new psychic house crasher. He sharply and shortly shook his pleading with Emma not to tease for fear of further embarrassment. She gave him a reassuring glance as she sat on the littered carpet and they all began to pull out the comic books. They sifted threw what was a majority of Superman and Batman comics. Towards the bottom they came across a stack of Wonder Woman books. Emma took half while Jimmy took the other. All, like the rest of the comics, were sealed in cellophane. All three of them looked at each book studying the titles and cover art. Layla, who had a stack of Batman, spoke up.

"Oooo this one is beautiful! What's it doing with these? They were all in order until this one." Jimmy leaned over accidentally brushing his chin against her bare shoulder. The softness of her skin and warm perfume made him feel that he would soon need to adjust himself. He looked up at her uncomfortably and she smiled back. He looked down at the comic she held. It was the 1987 Wonder Woman comic. Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals. It was Pop's favorite one. It told of Diana's beginnings. From the hidden island of Themyscira to "The World of Man". From Amazon Princess to American Super-Hero.

Emma stopped what she was doing and looked over at the comic Layla and Jimmy were spying.

"Hey I know that one! Daddy read that to me a few times when I was little. Remember he used to call me his little Amazon! That always made Shea jealous! He would tell her that she was his Princess and that would make ME jealous!" Emma mused.

"Yeah well, all I got was Little Buddy. Might as well of given me a white floppy hat and bell bottoms." Jimmy took the book out of Layla's hands and shared it with Emma. They both held it and looked at the fantastic artwork of George Perez that graced the cover. Beautiful Goddesses and an elegant and statuesque Wonder Woman right in the middle. Emma ran her fingers over the cover. The siblings looked at each other both having the same thought. Jimmy reached into his pocket and produced the silver Watcher key. Layla scooted to the edge of the couch. Jimmy's heart was racing and in his anxiety, didn't even notice that her leg was touching his and her hand had rested on his knee. The other comics fell from their laps and landed unnoticed onto the floor. Jimmy and Layla instinctively moved to the floor with Emma and they all huddled together around the book. They laid it gently on the carpet in the center of their circle. Jimmy looked at the small, silver key in the palm of his left hand. He looked to the girls for idea.

"Well, now what? Do I point it at the book, or lay it there; do I do the hokey pokey or something?"

"I don't know? Don't ask me. Mine has an actual lock that goes with it! My parents believed in respected the tradition their ancestors provided them." Layla sneered.

"Do you feel it's absolutely necessary to be a complete bitch at every inopportune moment you can?" Emma asked.

"It's what I do." Layla added without looking up.

"Trial and error Jim. Start with laying it on the book."

"What makes you the boss? Why do you get to choose?" He posed.

She gestured for him to take the reins. "Go ahead 'Big Brother'!" She mocked. He straightened himself and squared his shoulders. He looked at the key and glanced at the two women. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, furrowed his brow, and hesitantly laid the key on top of the book. And quickly took his hand back. Emma folded her arms and looked at him with a sneer.

"Well, don't think that one worked. What else?" Layla spoke up.

"For starters, let's take it out of the plastic." Emma said smartly as she carefully slid the paper book from its protective covering. She grabbed the key up before her brother could get it and pointed it at the book. "Open sesame!" The other's snorted and laughed. "You got any bright ideas smartass?"

"Here give me the book" Jimmy demanded.

"No! You've had your chance! It's my turn! Just tell me what you want to do!"

"You just want to be the one to open it so you can walk around saying 'Ooo look I opened the secret door to the mystical library! I'm special!'"

"I am special you nerd! Now, get back!"

"Oh my God how old are you guys?" Layla observed. Both twins grabbed the book and Emma dropped the key onto it as she reached out with other hand to get a better grip. When she did the comic began to glow. However, they didn't noticed because they were still bickering over who would get to open it. But, Layla noticed. She tried to get their attention as she stood and back away tripping over a broken table leg.

"Uh, guys could you stop please? GUYS!"

The squabbling twins stopped and looked down. Confusion quickly turned to shock when they realized that the key had pretty much fit the lock. Their eyes grew larger as they dropped it and furiously scooted backwards. They stood up as the light grew larger and began to give off energy. Wind blew and made the broken bits of wood swirl around. They reached out and grasped each others hand.

Layla became aware of her own fear and apprehension building inside her, and became desperate to be with the others. She mustered her strength and ran across the short distance from her to Jimmy. She was half way there when one of the up heaved bits of wood flew over and stuck into her right thigh. She toppled from the shock and pain, but was caught by Jimmy. He held her up and covered her head with his arm as he held tight to his sister's hand. The light seemed to fill the basement, and the growing tornado forced them to continue to back away. As suddenly as it began the wind stopped. The three let out their breath in relief just as a bright flash of light startled them. They all screamed in surprise and fell back against the wall. The last thing Emma remembered was the White Lady crouching down in front of her.