6
When Jon had been six years old a man had broken into his house. That man had tortured his parents for hours by raping their son in front of them, and then had given them a kind of mercy by stabbing them to death. Neighbors had heard the screaming of the little boy as his parents were killed and called the police who had responded within minutes.
With his knife ready to end Jon's life the man had promised he would torment the child even in death, though at the time he had meant Jon's death, but meanings can go both ways. So when police burst into the room and shot the man dead no one realized such a promise couldn't be broken.
Putting the little boy in a mental institution for children had been a good idea. Jon was traumatized by what had happened to him and would have made a recovery. Maybe not the type of recovery that would lead to normalcy but it would have been a recovery and we would have heard no more of his story. This was not the case however. Because of the dead man's promise he did not crossover to where he would have been tormented for eternity. Instead he became a shadow linked to the life of a little boy that would grow up.
And because Jon had been told for years that his continued torment was part of his imagination he had never gotten the help he needed when that help could have made a difference. Had he known Clark Jennin and his grandmother as a child he might have been blessed and the creature his tormenter had become could have been banished. Now the thing was too strong taking its power from every night of torture he presented Jon for twelve years.
A lot of things can be prevented in hindsight.
"I don't think I can banish it either." Jennin said watching the creature sway from side to side looking for a weakness in either of the two remaining occupants of the room.
"What is it doing?" Grissom asked mesmerized by the thing for a moment.
"Looking for something to hurt." Jennin supplied. "That's how it feeds. I think it's connected somehow to Mr. Brendan. Either that or it sees him as adequate prey because he's tied to the Other Side."
"Jon said that it's the ghost of his rapist." Grissom supplied. "I've been told it's been visiting him for twelve years."
Jennin nodded holding out his hand to keep the creature away from him. "That would explain how powerful it is." He admitted. "The more violent the last hours of ones life the more power they have in death. That's why serial killers are rumored to carry on after death. At least half of them are. We need to get that thing out of the house and off the property; I can use the wards I put there to keep it off."
Grissom nodded. "Then what do we do?" he asked ready to do anything to help. His back still hurt from where it had touched him once; imagine what Jon went through every night.
"I don't know yet." Jennin admitted. "I've never dealt with a spirit this powerful before."
888
Jon looked around his attic searching with his eyes for a reason why the most unlikely room in the house was so protected. He didn't remember why he always favored the attic as a child; he only remembered that once upon a time it was the place he slept when he stayed with his aunt.
Making sure Greg was going to be alright Jon turned on the light and walked over to the corner that held boxes of his aunt's things. He pushed aside the cardboard until he found the truth of obscure books held together with a soft buzz of power.
"Greg, this is no time to sleep!" Jon shouted, "Help me here." He started pulling out books, flipping though each, looking for some help. "I think my entire left side is going to be burnt." Greg said hobbling to where Jon was. "What are you looking for?"
"Something that will help us." Jon answered. He jumped when one of the books shocked him. "Ow, do you think that might be what we're looking for?"
"Only one way to find out." Greg said reaching out for the book himself. When it didn't shock him, he picked the book up and opened the cover. He grinned upon reading the first words. "I do believe this is it."
88
"Gris!" Greg called from the attics opening. "We found a way to get rid of that thing."
"So what do you say Nick?" Jon asked the ghost uncertainly. "How would you like to be bound to this world through me?"
"Will it send that thing to hell where it belongs?" Nick asked in concern.
"That's what where hoping." Jon said. "The spell is to displace the link, if you take it over then that thing will have nothing keeping it here."
Nick nodded, "Alright, let's do this."
"He'll do it," Jon told Greg moving to the hole in the floor. Greg nodded jumping down to the main house with the book. Jon followed a moment later, falling into Jennin's arms.
"We're only going to get one chance at this." Jennin said letting Jon go. "You'll be in the middle, and I'll perform the spell."
"Ok," Jon said moving to stand in the middle of the circle, "Just tell Nick when to join me."
"Stand there and there." Jennin instructed Grissom and Greg. Jennin held his arms out chest high as if he were going to do a ballet move with his arms open; the other two followed suit. "Just don't move."
Jennin hummed deep in his chest. With him the very air in the living room hummed with power. Around them they would hear a distant shrieking; but to Jon it was as loud as if someone was screaming in his ears. Closing his eyes tightly and covering his ears with his hands, he tried not to cry out in pain and break the spell.
Jennin spoke in a low chant over the sound. No words could be distinguished from the hum of the air yet a clear result could be felt. Instantly the Dark Shadow surrounding them, trying to get past the circle to Jon.
"Follow me to Shadow, follow me past light." Jennin said clearly. "Be in Darkness, be out of Sight. Take a plan and promise, made beyond Death. A link for Life, a line in strife. Cast away thy Shadows Bane, open the Way."
Jon screamed dropping to his knees as the link connecting him to the creature his former rapist had become severed. For a moment Nick flickered out of sight as Jon's natural gift took over from the link connecting him to the Spirit World.
Simultaneously as if practiced Greg and Jennin dropped their hands where they met opening a window into the circle. Jon nodded the moment Nick was inside signaling for the circle to be closed again.
Jennin took a deep breath and started humming again. Instead of an answering hum the Darkness that was the creature receded as their circle began to glow. Slowly Jon got to his feet then held out his hands to Nick, willingly linking them together.
"Follow me to Light, Follow me past Night," Jennin said clearly. "Be out of Darkness, Be in Sight." Immediately Nick came into view for everyone in the circle. He smiled sadly at Grissom and mouthed words to Greg that were returned as the spiky blond cried.
Pausing for a moment for the full effect to set in Jennin continued. "Take a plan and promise, made beyond death."
"I promise to look after you and keep you safe," Nick said in automatic compulsion dictated by the spell. He meant it, not only for Jon, but for Greg too, as well as his friends at CSI.
Jennin nodded, "A link for Life, a line for Light. Come my way oh Shadows Bane, Close the way."
The light surrounding the circle pulsed outward chasing the remaining Shadows away as the spell was sealed. Nick glowed for a moment longer in the resulting darkness as a beacon of light and hope. Then he faded from everyone's sight but Jon's, whom promptly collapsed in Jennin's arms.
"He's alright," Jennin assured the two CSI. He lifted the small body into his arms and settled him onto the couch.
"How long will they be linked." Grissom asked the inevitable question.
"As long as they want." Jennin said, "Links like this are more common then you think. When they are both ready Nick may crossover, but I suspect that will be a while."
"He needs me." Nick said bluntly.
"I heard that." Greg announced.
"It's a side effect." Jennin explained. "Nick has more physical attachment here now. And unlike the creature his touch will not harm anyone." He winked at Greg.
Blackout/cut to commercial