Familiar Spirit

“I do,” Sarah said softly, but her words made no impression.

“I kept trying to kill him,” Valerie said. “I kept trying to trick him. When he was in my cat’s body, I killed my cat.”

The smell of the cellar was strong in Sarah’s nostrils.

“But Jade didn’t die. The cat did, he escaped. But I still thought . . . maybe if he was trapped in a body that was dying, a human body, away from the house and away from other people and animals, so he couldn’t escape into some other animal . . . I thought maybe then he really would die, for good.

“So when he told me to bring him another victim right away, I thought of old Mrs. Owens, the landlady. She didn’t know I’d moved out, and she was the only person I could think of to get to come to the house. And I thought, she was so old, she’d probably be weak . . .”

“I don’t think age has anything to do with it,” Sarah murmured.

“The minute she stepped into the house, he attacked. She fell on the floor like she’d been hit by lightning, stiff as a board. I thought she was dead, at first, then I looked at her eyes. And I saw him. Those yellow eyes. Furious. He was trapped. Something had gone wrong, something he hadn’t counted on. I guess she’d had a stroke. And he couldn’t get out, and he couldn’t use the body.” Valerie dribbled a spoonful of sugar into her untouched coffee and stirred it around. “I hoped he would die there, and never be able to get out. It was the first thing to give me hope in such a long time, seeing him trapped inside her like that. So I took the body back to Mrs. Owens’ house and left her there. And I said a spell of protection around her door, just in case. And then I thought I’d better go back to the house, I thought maybe . . .”

“You just left her there?” Sarah said. “Knowing she would die? You left her helpless and alone?”

“She’ll be better off dead, than having him in her body,” Valerie said unemotionally. “And if he dies when she does . . . then it’s worth it. Isn’t that what you want, too? For Jade to die?”

Sarah remembered the helpless terror in the old woman’s eyes. Her clear blue eyes. She frowned. “But you’re wrong. Jade wasn’t there. I’m sure of it. I’d have known it if he was.”

Valerie looked confused. “You? You weren’t there. What do you mean?”

“I went to Mrs. Owens’ house this morning. I found her there, lying on the floor. But she wasn’t possessed, I’m sure of it. I could see how absolutely terrified she was . . . there was nothing but terror in her eyes, and helplessness. Jade wasn’t there. I called the ambulance, and she’s in the hospital now. If she dies—”

The pupils in Valerie’s eyes were dilated and her freckles seemed to blaze out of her pale face. “Damn you! You’ve ruined it! If you’d stayed away—if you’d left her alone—”

“If I’d left her alone she might be dead by now,” Sarah said angrily.

“Yes! Dead! And he’d be dead, too, and I’d be free!”

Valerie’s fury subsided back into hopelessness then, and she slumped down in her seat.

Sarah looked around. Two waitresses were staring, but at Sarah’s look they turned away.

“You’re wrong,” Sarah said quietly. “Jade wasn’t there. I don’t know what you saw happen, but I know that by the time I got to the house, Jade was gone. I didn’t help him escape. All I did was to help a poor old woman, another victim, like us.”

Valerie twitched her shoulders; it was not quite a shrug. “Maybe you broke the spell by going inside. I cast a spell of protection around her bedroom when I closed the door, to try to keep Jade trapped there even if he left her body. And what made you go there, anyway? You don’t know Mrs. Owens.”

“I was looking for you. I wanted to ask you to help me. The only person I could think of who might have your address was Mrs. Owens.”

“So you went there to find me,” Valerie said. Her lips twisted. “He made you go there. He’s got his hooks into you—he called you, and you didn’t even know it. That’s why you won’t run away and stay away—you think it’s your own choice, but it isn’t. You can’t escape from him any more than I can.”

Sarah imagined invisible fingers lightly touching her mind, making her decide to go to Mrs. Owens’ house, and she shivered uneasily. Why had she gone there, rather than phoning? It didn’t make sense when she thought of it. And what had made her go through that open door? And what force had opened the door?

“He’s playing with us,” Valerie said. “Now he’s got two of us, to fetch and carry for him. Maybe he couldn’t take you over completely, like he could me, but he’s got part of you, anyway. Give him time and he’ll get more. You’ll be like me. You won’t even care.”

“You’re crazy,” Sarah said sharply, to shut her up.

“Yes,” Valerie said. She scooted out of her seat and dropped a five-dollar bill on the table. “Let’s go. This place is getting crowded.”