Chapter 37

When he found Kristen, she was sitting in the bathtub, water off, knees pulled to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Her eyes were still red from recent crying.

He reached out to brush the wet hair from her cheek as she looked up at him. "Love? What's wrong?"

"I talked to her. The ghost. I talked to her."

He picked her up, cradling her to his chest. "Oh, love, I'm so sorry." He carried her over to the bed and sat down, holding her as she shook and cried.

Finally, she looked up at him. "She ... she wanted a favor."

"What?" he asked.

She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "She wants one of us ... Kayla or I ... to take her baby."

"What do you mean?" His brow wrinkled in confusion. "Love, the baby's dead."

She nodded. "I didn't understand, either, but she explained."

"Then what did she mean?"

"The baby's soul is trapped here," she said. "It can't go to heaven, or anywhere. But it can get reborn, if the conception takes place here."

He shook his head. "No way. Y'all are too young."

"She's afraid he'll come, and he'll be able to destroy her completely," Kristen said. "She's terrified. She just wants her baby to have a chance to live."

He stroked her hair, but shook his head again. "No. You're both way too young to be having a baby."

Her voice dropped to a broken whisper. "It was so little. How could he?" She started to cry again.

He gathered her close and sighed. "I don't know, love. I just don't know."

"I ... I want to do it." she looked up at him pleadingly. "Lots of girls get pregnant at fourteen. Or even younger. It'll be okay."

"No," he said firmly. "Out of the question."

"Mark, I can't bear it! I can't stand to think of it, always trapped, always crying in hunger and thirst and fear! It's too awful. I have to do something."

He looked down into her desperate eyes, and sighed. "Fine. We'll find something else we can do." He paused thoughtfully. "Shit, this is perfect. I know just who to ask, and maybe we can help Kayla while we're at it."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, puzzled.

His expression was full of pain. "Kayla dreamed about Karen Wilson's death. Part of her knew it was a true dream, but she thought she was just being paranoid, and didn't say anything. And she's blamed herself for the last three and a half years. She hasn't been able to work magic in that entire time. Maybe if she can do something to help someone..." His voice trailed off.

"Oh." She looked shocked for a moment, then frowned. "Mark ... should you have told me that?"

He looked down at her. "She probably wouldn't have wanted me to, no," he admitted. "But you love her ... and maybe, between us, we can get her to believe she doesn't need to be punished. I can't stand to see her in pain, love. It hurts."

She hugged him tightly. "I know ... but she told you because she trusted you. I don't feel right about you telling even me without her permission."

"Kristen ... she loves you more than she loves me," he said. "You can do more than I can ... though a straightforward attack will not work, it seems."

"You know I'll try," she said.

He nodded. "I think, maybe, if we can show her a way to do some good..."

"She could have the baby, but I think it would be better if I did," she said. "No one would be surprised if I turned up pregnant."

He shook his head. "We'll find a different solution. And I know just who to ask. I need you to call Aaron, and get his mother's number."

"Why should I call instead of you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "His father might ask questions about why a teacher was calling. He won't ask why a girl is."

"Oh," she said, blushing. "Right."

The number was acquired, and Mark dialed Lenita. He explained about the ghost's request, and that he thought it was a horribly bad idea, and the distress that doing nothing was causing Kristen.

"I see," she said. "And I agree. Fourteen is far too young for a girl to have a child, even for the best of reasons."

"Yes. Far too young," he agreed. "There's got to be another solution, but to be very blunt, I'm too inexperienced to know what."

"And there's some reason this must be done now?" Lenita asked. "Rather than wait for one of the girls to grow up?"

He sighed. "Yes. There was a body found this weekend. I'm personally convinced it was Ryan Barnes' body. Emma Barnes is afraid he'll manage to get in here and destroy them. She says that he bound them here, and only he can release them. I find that hard to believe, that there's no other way, but I'm new to all of this."

"Only he can release 'them'? But if another accepts the child, it will be released. Perhaps only he can release her, but the child merely needs a vessel. And perhaps her own bondage is more in her mind than in reality ... or perhaps it is the child who holds her there, and she could find peace herself if it were cared for." Lenita paused thoughtfully. "There ... might be a way."

"What?" he asked, the relief plain in his voice.

"It would still require someone willing to bear the child as their own ... just not right away. There's a ceremony that calls the spirit of one's future young, binding it to your body for when the time is right," she said. "The catch being that you cannot define that right time. You simply have to accept it. It might be ten years from now, it might be ten weeks."

"Er," he said. "Honestly, I don't think either of them should have a child in the next several years."

"And perhaps you are correct. However, the chance exists that you might not be. Arguing with fate is rarely productive."

He sighed. "Indeed. You have a point there. How would we go about this?"

"I will email Aaron the appropriate ritual and a list of what she will need," she said. "Then one of them must perform it in the house where the spirit resides."

"Thank you," he said, then hesitated before asking, "For my own peace of mind, could you confirm or deny something for me?"

"Perhaps," she said. "You may ask, in any event."

"Would the gods punish someone who was a novice, and only eleven years old, by taking their magic for making a mistake?" he asked. "Even if the result of their mistake was horrific?"

"That would depend upon which gods were involved, Mr. Hasseran. Most would not be so harsh, but yes, some would," she said. "But, that assumes that the magic was a gift of those gods. Most of the time, magic is inborn, not granted."

"Hmm. I see. Assuming the magic was inborn, the gods couldn't take it?" he asked, just to be sure.

"That is correct," she said. "They could possibly block it, but not permanently."

He smiled, relieved. "That's what I suspected. Thank you."

"Have you sent the things I require?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "They should arrive in the morning, in a locked aluminum case. Once you've got it, you can call me during my conference period and I'll give you the combination. Perhaps I'm being overly paranoid, but I'd prefer to know you have it in your possession before anyone else knows the combination."

She sounded mildly amused. "I see. I will call you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Mr. Hasseran."

"Goodnight." He hung up the phone and turned to Kristen, who was waiting impatiently to see what she'd said. "Okay. There's a solution that does not necessarily involve either of you getting pregnant right now. The catch is that at the right time, whichever of you performed the ritual will end up pregnant."

She nodded. "What's the right time?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Apparently, it has to do with fate. Maybe Kayla would understand better."

On cue, Kayla strode into the bedroom, a sheet of paper in hand. "Okay, got it ... huh?" she asked, looking at them with a perplexed frown.

Mark reached out, pulling her down beside them, and explained what had happened to Kristen, and the solution they'd found.

"So, basically, one of us has to agree to get pregnant at 'the right time' which is an unspecified date in the future?" she asked.

"Apparently," he agreed. "If we decide to do it."