Chapter 65

Angie and Kayla arrived first, and the girl gave Aaron a long, measuring look that had him ducking his head and edging behind Mark. She didn't get a chance to ask her questions, though, before Steven arrived.

"Let's go down to the basement," Mark suggested, then added, as he caught Steven's inquisitively raised eyebrow, "I'd feel safer there."

His father-in-law nodded, face grim. "All right. I'll be down in a minute, then." He headed for the bathroom as the others started down the stairs.

Mark plopped down on the daybed, leaning back against the wall, and Kristen settled between his legs, her back against his chest. Aaron curled up at the foot of the bed like a somewhat insecure, six-foot-tall, cat; he kept one hand curled lightly, almost hesitantly, around Mark's ankle, and his back to the wall. Kayla watched him, frowning suspiciously, her grey eyes growing stormy as he seemed to shrink under her gaze. She winced, but sank into the chair nearest the bed and waited patiently-- amazingly so, for her-- for answers. Angie took a seat further away, perching uncomfortably on the edge of her chair, looking as if she was expecting to be evicted from the room at any moment.

Steven joined them not long afterward, looking a touch distracted and extremely thoughtful, though he still remembered to turn the latch and slide the bolt on the door. Mark had no time to ponder the expression on the older man's face, however, because Kayla had reached the end of her patience.

"Well?" she demanded. "What happened?"

Mark sighed deeply. "Let's take this in order," he said, and then filled Steven and Angie in on the incident with Karen, while Kayla squirmed impatiently. If it hadn't been such a serious occasion, he'd have enjoyed watching her, and teasing her about her inability to wait. It was really adorable. Unfortunately ... He sighed again, as he finished his summary of the mornings events, and then looked to the foot of the bed. "Now, tell them what happened to you, Aaron."

The boy shivered and slid closer to him, curling up so that the top of his head was pressed against Mark's leg, but he nodded. "Yessir," he said softly. Then, without ever looking up, he told the others what he'd told Mark in front of the sheriff, except this time he put in more detail. His voice was flat and emotionless as he told of blood splattered about his house, of photos torn from the wall and doused in it, of clothes and furniture that looked like they'd been sliced by huge claws, but his shaking grew worse and worse. After only a moment, Kayla abandoned her chair and crawled up on the bed, taking the boy's clammy hand in her own and rubbing it gently, and Kristen reached down and began stroking his dark curls. Both seemed to soothe him, but nothing stopped the shaking.

"Any theories?" Steven asked when he was done.

Mark shook his head. "I'm not sure. Something has more or less possessed Karen. I don't know what, but something has. Maybe Ryan Barnes."

"Does she know?" Kristen asked, aghast.

"I'm ... not sure," he said, reluctantly. "Maybe."

"I still think we should get a priest to look at her," Angie said tentatively. "Not Reverend Marshall, of course, but someone."

"Well, possessed or not," Steven said, "she can't do much harm right now. We should have time to work something out before she's out of jail. Given that it's my daughter she poses the biggest threat to, it would be perfectly reasonable for me to pull a few strings and make sure she stays contained as long as possible. Expected, really."

Mark nodded. "That will help, but ... it could have others possessed as well. Aaron's experience seems to indicate that it does."

"I'm not sure," Aaron said quietly. "The damage didn't look like it was done by people."

Reaching down to squeeze the boy's shoulder, Mark sighed. "I just don't know. If we've got two separate nasty things around ... that's bad." He hooked a finger under Aaron's chin and gently tugged until he could meet the troubled hazel eyes. "Do you think there's any chance your mama would come up here?"

Aaron flinched, pressing against his leg. "No, sir. She might would make me come to her, but she wouldn't leave her territory. Not for me, not for anything."