Chapter Twelve
Scotch was still rather shaken himself as he trailed after Pastor Green down the back hall. He glanced at the rooms they were passing, but didn't pay them a great deal of heed.
"Do you feel anything else?" he asked.
Pastor Green shook his head. "Thankfully no. Hopefully that was the only Devil's servant that was infesting these halls."
"Y-Yeah, no kidding," Scotch stammered.
Pastor Green slowed and looked back at the boy. "Are you alright, Scotch?" he queried in concern.
"Of course!" Scotch boasted. "Just great! It was really epic how you banished that creep!"
The pastor smiled a bit at Scotch's attempt to look brave. "Well, it was really God Who banished it," he said, "but yes, it is 'epic.'" He paused. "Seeing its power was a little much, though, wasn't it?"
Scotch averted his gaze to one of the rooms. "No. . . . I just . . . I've never seen anything like that before. . . . That kind of battle of good and evil on that level, I mean. . . ."
"It is an experience like no other," Pastor Green acknowledged. "And it's frightening. Even I was frightened my first time."
Scotch slowly looked over at him in surprise. "Really?"
Pastor Green nodded. "Really." He smiled kindly.
". . . What about this time?" Scotch asked.
"It's always a little frightening," Pastor Green said. "Evil power always is. But then I remind myself that it's never stronger than the forces of good."
". . . Really?" Scotch said again. He sounded smaller and more lost this time.
"God is always more powerful than the Devil and his minions," Pastor Green said firmly.
"That's . . . good to know," Scotch said. "God brought Radley back. . . . I know that much. . . ."
"Yes, He did," Pastor Green smiled.
"I hope Radley's okay. . . . And Kalin. . . ." Scotch looked back over his shoulder.
"Do you want to go back to them?" Pastor Green asked.
"Maybe. . . . If they don't come in a minute. . . ." Scotch shifted awkwardly. "Maybe I should let them know everything looks okay. . . . I know they'd already be here if they really thought there was any more danger, though. . . ." He fumbled with the phone in his pocket.
"They care about you a lot," Pastor Green agreed.
"Radley sure does, I know," Scotch said. "I hope Kalin does too. . . ."
"They were both striving to protect you when that evil spirit attacked," Pastor Green gently reminded him.
"Oh yeah, I know!" Scotch quickly said. "But . . . I know Kalin's still mad at me and the other guys because we abandoned Radley. . . ." He looked down. "I am too. Kalin was all depressed and stuff, so he can't be blamed like we can be. We knew we loved Radley. We should have known better!" He clenched a fist. "I just can't believe we all left him like that and joined Lawton!"
"Even Jesus's friends abandoned Him out of fear," Pastor Green said. "Peter denied even knowing Him, despite Jesus warning him that would happen."
"I don't get any of that, either," Scotch frowned. "How could they all just up and leave Him even knowing the kinds of cool stuff He did?! He would've protected them!"
"I suppose when Jesus was arrested and didn't resist, they lost all hope," Pastor Green said.
Scotch's shoulders slumped. "That sounds familiar. The losing hope, I mean."
"I thought it might," Pastor Green agreed.
". . . I still wish we'd been smarter, though," Scotch said. "Radley has always been our everything, ever since we met him. He deserved better than all of us mucking up his life."
"Radley loves you, all of you, so much," Pastor Green said. "He has always found it a joy to have you around. I know I haven't known him that long, but his love for you comes through so very strongly. It always has."
"He's a great guy." Scotch sounded far away. "The best."
"He is very special," Pastor Green said. "All of God's children are. Kalin is. You are. The rest of the Bunch is."
Scotch hesitated for a long moment. "Pastor . . . you don't do that confession stuff, do you?"
"Not in my denomination, no," Pastor Green said.
"Well . . ." Scotch rubbed the back of his neck. "Even without that, do you think it's right to keep secrets?"
"How do you mean?" The pastor seemed slightly surprised now. "If you mean will I keep a confidence . . ."
"No!" Scotch interrupted. "I mean . . ." He flushed, looking guilty. ". . . What if I know something that I know someone would want to know, but I don't say so because I'm worried how it'd affect them to know it?"
"Do you mean if it would hurt them to know?" Pastor Green asked.
"Yeah . . . but not just emotionally. I mean, what if I'm worried that knowing could hurt them physically?! Is it okay not to tell?" Scotch sounded more urgent now.
"Do you really think it would?" Pastor Green frowned now in concern.
Scotch's voice dropped. ". . . I think it could . . . if they're not completely better yet and all. . . ."
". . . Will it hurt someone else not to tell?" Pastor Green prompted.
Again Scotch hesitated. ". . . I don't think so? If I really thought it would, I'd tell! I promise that!"
Pastor Green sighed but kindly smiled. "It sounds like a complicated situation," he said. "I can't fully advise without knowing everything, but I would be inclined to say that you should do what you feel is best for everyone's well-being. If no one will be hurt by keeping quiet, then perhaps you should for the time being. But once you can safely tell, maybe you should. Don't you think they deserve to know?"
". . . Yeah, they do," Scotch said. "And I think . . . maybe Kalin does too. . . . I just . . . don't want to tell him first because he might tell Radley. . . . And if he didn't, I don't like to think of giving them another secret. . . . Everything should be aboveboard between them now."
"So you're taking all the burden on yourself," Pastor Green realized.
". . . Well, no. . . . All the guys know," Scotch confessed. "But . . . Radley always tried to keep things happy for us so we wouldn't lose hope. . . . We all agreed that we should do this now for him, so he won't maybe have a setback or something. He's doing so well."
"As long as no one will be hurt by your silence, it's a noble thing you're trying to do," Pastor Green said.
"No one should end up hurt," Scotch insisted.
"I hope you're right," Pastor Green said. "I can't force you to tell me, nor would I, but sometimes even when we think someone won't be hurt, it ends up that they can be and are." He studied the anxious young man. "The very fact that you're concerned about telling indicates you may be worried yourself about the possibility."
Scotch heaved a sigh. ". . . I guess I am, kind of," he admitted.
"I will pray for you to find guidance to do what is best," Pastor Green said.
"Thanks, Pastor," Scotch said. He took out his phone. "I'm going to see how they're doing."
Radley swiftly answered Scotch's call. "Hey," he smiled. Both he and Kalin looked quite at peace. "How are you guys doing with your demon hunt?"
"It's demon free!" Scotch chirped. "You guys can come if you want! We're probably going to reach the Halloween rooms soon! Oh man, I can hardly wait for that!"
Radley chuckled. "We'll come," he said after exchanging a look with Kalin.
"We'd like to finish seeing what's down there anyway," Kalin said. "We stopped at the Halloween rooms."
"We'll wait for you there then!" Scotch grinned.
"I'm sure you'll want to stay there anyway when you see them," Radley said in amusement.
"Yeah, I will!" Scotch beamed. "Best place in the place, hands-down!"
Radley laughed. "We'll see you in a few minutes."
"Right! See you guys!" Scotch hung up with a smile.
Pastor Green observed in silent amazement. To see how Scotch had so completely switched gears and put on a cheery front for Radley was touching. He was definitely good at hiding his concerns when he put his mind to it. Radley himself was also good at it. Perhaps Scotch had learned from him or perhaps it was a skill he had already possessed.
Either way, Pastor Green definitely prayed that Scotch would make the right decision where it came to what was troubling him and that a tragedy wouldn't bring everything to a devastating head. These people needed to be able to be happy.
Scotch continued to be cheerful along the path now. When they reached the Halloween rooms, he had to grin. "Alright! Now these are the good kinds of spooks!" But he stopped outside the door, just looking in at everything.
"Are you going inside?" Pastor Green asked.
"I'm going to wait for Kalin and Radley," Scotch said. "I want them to see it with me. I know they saw it before, but I still want to share it with them."
"That's a very nice idea," Pastor Green said. "I'm sure they will be glad to share it with you."
"Yeah," Scotch said. "We're all a family now!" He crossed his arms to wait. It surely wouldn't be long.
xxxx
Radley was gently amused by Scotch's enthusiasm. He hung up the phone with a smile. "Well, Scotch is having fun, just like we thought," he remarked.
"He doesn't seem affected at all by what happened," Kalin grunted.
"Maybe," Radley said. "Or maybe he's putting on an act about it for our sakes."
"Does he do that?" Kalin wondered. "He seems so genuine."
"He's genuine, alright," Radley assured him. "But part of that is genuinely wanting to see me happy. He'll bend over backwards for that . . . just like I always tried to do for him and the others. I'll talk to him later about how he might have been feeling about what happened tonight. For now, let's go find him and let him enjoy the Halloween rooms."
"After what we just went through, he's still excited about Halloween," Kalin grunted.
"I kinda hope nothing will take that away from him," Radley said. "He loves it so much." He started into the back hall.
Kalin followed and quickly caught up. "It seems unlikely anything will take it away from him," he said.
"I hope so," Radley said. He looked at the rooms as they passed by. "Oh yes, this is much better. No oogie-boogie feelings." He smiled. "We'll be able to safely enjoy that jacuzzi yet."
Kalin had to smile at his enthusiasm. "Roman Goodwin had one of those for all the Dark Signers to use," he said. "It really was nice."
Radley chuckled. "It's hard to picture an organization of evil just chilling like that," he said. "But I guess even you guys felt you needed some downtime?"
Kalin nodded. "We'd use it to celebrate victories or recoup from losses." He sighed. "It sounds terrible in hindsight."
Radley laid a hand on his shoulder. "That's all over now," he soothed. "You can enjoy this one with a guilt-free conscience, or so I hope."
"It will be nice to make some new memories with a jacuzzi," Kalin said. "With you there, I know it will be different."
Radley smiled.
Scotch grinned when he saw them coming. "Hey! We waited for you guys!" he greeted.
"It must have been hard to resist just going in those rooms," Kalin said.
"I knew it'd be funner if you were here!" Scotch said.
Radley smiled. "Well, let's go in, shall we?"
Scotch eagerly led them in, starting at the recorded voice welcoming them. Then he beamed again. "That is so cool!"
Pastor Green chuckled as Scotch proceeded to go over every inch of the two rooms, not wanting to miss any bit of decor. "He certainly is all into this," he remarked.
"I'm glad he can still enjoy it even after what we went through," Radley said. "Did he talk any more about being an exorcist?"
"A little," Pastor Green said. "I had the feeling he might be reconsidering such a line of work."
"I really hope so," Radley said. "But in any case, we're so grateful to you, Pastor. That whatever it was, was ruining being able to enjoy this part of the villa."
"Do you think it was actually a demon or just a restless spirit?" Kalin wondered.
"I'm not sure," Pastor Green sighed. "But either way, it's gone. And I don't feel any other ill presences."
"Good," Kalin said. "Let's keep it that way."
Scotch came back over to them, beaming happily. "You guys go on and see the other rooms," he encouraged. "I want to stay here and think about what I want to put in to make this place even cooler!"
Radley chuckled. "Okay, we'll go on ahead for now. We'll come back for you or call you when we're ready to leave."
"Right!" Scotch settled down on the couch to bask in the Halloween atmosphere. Amused, Radley left him and followed Kalin and Pastor Green down the hall.
"Has he always been like that?" Pastor Green wondered.
"As long as I've known him anyway," Radley said. "He's a character. I love him."
"He does bring a lot of cheer," Pastor Green admitted.
Kalin curiously glanced in the next rooms. Unlike the prior ones, these showed more signs of having been lived in. Several bedrooms had open boxes on the beds or the floor, revealing clothes, books, and other personal belongings. He quirked an eyebrow.
"Someone was trying to move in," he noted. "Do you want to look at these things for any hints on who it was?"
Radley nodded. "It could have just been Malcolm's Crew, but it really seems like there were other modern residents before them," he mused. He went in and started going through a box. Kalin went over to start on another one.
"Should I go on ahead and make sure the rest of the hall is safe?" Pastor Green asked.
"Oh sure," Radley said. "We wouldn't expect you to hang around waiting for us, Pastor. You've done so much already." He smiled.
Pastor Green nodded. "I'll examine this hall and also the main hall, if you'd like," he offered.
"That would be great, thanks," Radley said. "But I don't think you'll be able to get to every spot tonight. It's just too big."
"I'll do what I can," Pastor Green promised.
Radley looked pleased. "Feel free to leave any time you're ready, Pastor. We might look around longer now that it's safe."
"Of course," Pastor Green smiled. "This is a beautiful place. I can understand why you love it so much." He walked on down the hall, glancing in every room.
Radley returned his attention to a box of books. "Lots of physics books again," he mused. "So it was probably the person who set up that library. The question is, who was that?"
"None of Malcolm's men seem that intellectual, except maybe Seluga," Kalin said.
Radley nodded. "But if it was him, I'd think he'd take his books with him. Actually, you'd think anybody would have. These are expensive books!"
"Maybe the restless spirit scared them too much?" Kalin said.
"Maybe." Radley opened one and studied the copyright date. "This is an old book. I wonder if they all are. Of course, that doesn't mean much. Anyone could enjoy older books. . . . Although when it comes to science, older books wouldn't be up to date by far."
"So maybe that does indicate it was someone here longer ago, when these books were new," Kalin said.
Radley looked at all the other books' copyright dates. "Nothing is more recent than about forty years ago," he mused. "How weird."
"What do you plan on doing with them?" Kalin wondered. "As you said, they're expensive."
"Yeah. I'd feel kind of funny selling them, though, at least until we know if who left them is still around to want them." He sighed and stood. "There's no name in any of them."
"Maybe we'll never know the answer," Kalin said.
"Maybe not, but I wanna try harder to find out before conceding defeat," Radley said. He proceeded to examine every other box they found in the rooms, to no avail.
At last he leaned back in exasperation. "It's like this person didn't have a past!" he exclaimed. "They came here with all their stuff, but nothing to reveal who they are! There's no name, no cards, no letters . . . !" He clapped his hands down on his knees with a sound of finality.
"He must have come here to escape his past," Kalin said. "Either that or he took any identifying material with him when he ran away."
"Or . . ." Radley grimaced. "What if he didn't run away? We've been thinking the evil spirit chased him off, but . . . what if he died here and he's the spirit?"
"That sounds like something out of Scotch's horror movies," Kalin said.
"You have to admit it's possible, though," Radley sighed.
"Alright, it's possible," Kalin said. "But I'm sure neither of us really wants to think about that. We haven't found any trace of a body."
Radley nodded and got to his feet. "And I hope we won't. It probably is more like you said, somebody just got spooked and ran away. It's a shame they left so much behind, though."
". . . I wonder how much more there is to explore in this back hall," Kalin said. "It seems like we should have reached the end long before now."
Radley chuckled. "You know, we've only gone along one corner and part of one other side? The villa's huge! And we haven't even looked at the courtyard except from the bell tower."
"And we haven't looked at the main basement hall at all," Kalin remembered. "There's no way we can see everything tonight. Did we even explore all of the main floors?!"
"We didn't," Radley admitted. "There's entire wings we have yet to see. You're right that there's no way to look at everything tonight. I don't think Pastor Green should keep trying either. He hasn't been up and around much at all since Lawton tried to kill him. We'd better find him and tell him it's okay to stop and go home for the night."
"I wonder if Scotch will be able to tear himself away to do the same," Kalin deadpanned.
Radley looked amused. "It'll be a struggle for him, but I think he can make it. Even though everything seems safe, I really don't want him to stay on alone."
"I don't think he should either," Kalin said. "Not until we're absolutely sure there's nothing else in here. We didn't feel anything wrong in the villa until we got down here. It's possible there could be something else in one of the other wings and we wouldn't know it until we got there."
"Yeah." Radley sighed. "I hope that's not the case, but it could be."
As they wandered down the corridor, they soon saw Pastor Green up ahead, resting one hand on the doorway of another room. Hearing them coming, he smiled and turned. "Everything still seems safe," he greeted.
"That's great," Radley smiled. "We really appreciate everything you've done, Pastor. There's still a lot left to see, so we're thinking maybe we should wrap it up for tonight."
Kalin nodded. "We could come back tomorrow or the next day to look some more."
Definite relief flickered in Pastor Green's eyes. He really had been wearing down, but hadn't wanted to stop looking as long as they were there. "I think that's a wonderful idea," he said. "You should really get some rest, Radley. I know you've done a great deal today."
"And maybe that'll catch up with me tomorrow," Radley chuckled with a sigh. "It's been really nice, though. I've missed being more active." He turned to go back the way they had come. "Let's find Scotch and go."
Scotch was still relaxing in the first Halloween room when they went back. He perked up with a smile. "Hey! Is the coast clear?"
"So far, but I'm afraid we really need to call it a day for now," Pastor Green said with an apologetic smile.
Radley nodded. "The pastor needs to rest and it is getting pretty late."
Scotch jumped up. "Oh! You need to rest too, Radley!" he exclaimed.
Radley smiled, touched. "I'm planning to," he said. "There's just too much left to see, so we're gonna get going too."
Kalin nodded. "Maybe we can look more tomorrow, if Radley hasn't completely wore himself out for the next week."
"I'll be fine," Radley insisted. "A good night's rest and I'll be more than ready to tackle this expedition again!"
"Maybe all the guys can come next time," Scotch hoped. "I'll tell Biff the evil spirit's gone!"
"I still haven't fully looked everywhere to make sure there are no others," Pastor Green cautioned. "It's possible there's another in another wing of the building."
"Well, that's a bummer," Scotch frowned. "I'm going to hope there's not."
"Won't we all," Radley mused.
After locking up, the group headed outside where Klaus was waiting with his truck. He regarded the arriving group with an unreadable expression. "So what happened in there?" he gruffly demanded. "Is the varmint gone?"
"Yeah," Radley said. "We just hope there's not another. There's too much to see for tonight. We'll have to try again in a day or two."
Klaus grunted. "You'd just better be careful, Radley," he said. "I don't trust anything like that."
"Oh, I feel very safe when Pastor Green is there," Radley smiled. "And Kalin too, of course."
Kalin smiled too.
Soon they had dropped off Pastor Green at his home and returned to the diner, where the rest of the Bunch was cleaning up following a busy dinner session with the town.
Biff soon came over to them. "How'd it go?" he asked cautiously.
"Great!" Scotch gushed. "Pastor Green chased the bogeyman away so we can par-tay!"
Radley laughed. "We'd love to have all of you come the next time we go over," he said.
"Well, maybe, if it's really safe," Biff said.
"As far as we know, it is," Kalin said. "But there's still a lot we haven't looked at yet."
"Then you're gonna take Pastor Green when you go back, aren't you?" Biff worried.
"Of course," Radley said. "Until we've gone over everything and come up blank, it's probably not safe to go there if he's not there."
"Then I'll come," Biff said. "I'm sure everyone else will too."
The Bunch called with enthusiasm.
Radley glanced to Kalin. "There's still trying to Turbo Duel tomorrow too," he said low.
"I know," Kalin grunted. "I wish I didn't know."
"We can give up trying to get into the WRGP, if you want," Radley said in concern.
"I don't know what I want at this point," Kalin said. "But I know I'm not a quitter. I want to at least try."
Radley gave a melanchony smile. "Then we won't give up," he said. He drew an arm around Kalin's shoulders and Kalin relaxed into it. "Even if we fail, at least we'll know we tried everything."
Kalin nodded. That was what he wanted.
"For now it's home and off to bed," Radley said.
"Yeah. Let's," Kalin said.
Soon the group was heading outside after closing the diner for the night. Radley climbed on Kalin's motorcycle with him and they led the Bunch back to the street where they all lived.
"I'll probably be well enough to ride on my own again in a day or two, if this busy day doesn't do me in," Radley said. He hugged Kalin close. "I'm glad to get better, but I'll miss this."
Kalin had to smile. "I will too," he said honestly. How strange to actually admit it. But it felt so good, so freeing, to be honest with himself and Radley after weeks of fighting against what he truly wanted out of feeling like he didn't deserve it.
Radley's grip on him increased a bit and Kalin imagined his friend was smiling bright. No doubt he was also thinking of the contrast between then and now and loving it. Their future together would be joyous.
