Thehuman body is capable of strange wonders under the vague guise of science, andgiven Samuel’s present state and lack of mention of his current circumstancesin the Bible, it was fair for him to assume that science ruled the world with amightier grip than belief. And so it was with an analytical, scientist’srationale that Samuel began rooting out the darkness that inhabited the WestVillage building.
Hestudied each of the building’s tenants like lab specimens under a microscope.He mentally checked off an ever-infinite list of quirks and expressions thetenants would make. The things they would say to one another and the faces theywould make in private. The way one woman told her husband she loved him in onemoment, and then clenched her fists and worked her jaw in frustration as shestepped into the next room. The building was inhabited by several cats and twodogs, all of whom detected Samuel’s presence to a lesser extent then thechildren, twitching their noses and staring at him as he passed, the dogsoccasionally letting loose a low throated growl which they’d then shrug offlike he were no more than a pesky house fly.
Weeksand months trickled on. Samuel made a special effort to monitor the building’stwo toddlers, who both ignored him the older they got, only occasionallystaring at him or frowning in his direction. Samuel found nothing amiss, noinvaders seeping through the shadows. He at times wondered if he’d imagined theincident with the infant’s death. Perhaps the only otherworldly mischief lay inthe dreams of the living. Then again, Samuel thought, “I am here.”
Despitehis best efforts, time leapt forward. Tenants came and went, and Samuelcontinued his observations. During the moments when the tenants were asleep, hewould lie in wait, diligent in spotting the shadow’s return.
Oneafternoon he studied a mother and daughter—one of the same little girls who hadwaved to him as an infant—while they listened to the radio. The mother, SarahCleland, adjusted the transmission while her daughter, Jennifer Cleland waitedpatiently, her hands folded over her dress, her feet swinging back and forth inthe chair. The advancements in radio fascinated Samuel, and were the first truewondrous additions to his afterlife. He couldn’t physically manipulate a bookor turn the pages but the radio, ah, he could listen to music and serialnarratives to no end.
Thelittle girl turned and looked at Samuel, springing to her feet and knocking herchair over in the same instant. “It’s, it’s…” she stuttered as her motherturned around and, to Samuel’s surprise, she saw him too.
“Who…”Sarah began, rising to stand between Samuel and her daughter.
“It’sMark Twain, he used to live here!” The little girl shouted. Sarah’s face grewpale. She recognized him. Hearing his stage name brought a smile to his lips.
“Whatare you doing here?” Jennifer asked as Samuel rose a few feet from the ground.The radio played Jazz.
“Mywork here is not yet completed.” Samuel made as if to stroke the mustache hecouldn’t feel. Both Sarah and Jane jumped back with fright.
“He’sgone!” Sarah shouted.
“Hewas a ghost!” Jennifer said and Samuel felt strange, since he continued tostand before them.
“Hedid Huckleberry Finn, Mom!” Sarah hushed her as she reached for Samuel, wavingher hand through him.
“Iknow who he was. That man…” Sarah shook her head, peering around the room as iftrying to catch him hiding in the corner.
“Itold you there were ghosts, like that rotting smell in the hallway. He said hiswork wasn’t done, do you think he’s writing another book? Do we have anypaper?” Jennifer ran across the room to the desk Sarah liked to open her mailat.
Smellin the hallway? What else has been going on in front of me? Jennifer slapped down pencils and paperand Samuel recalled a time his Suzy, no more than six years of age, asked himto tell her a story that was just for her and that nobody else was allowed tohear.
Itinvolved a talking fish that liked to smoke pipe tobacco and play checkers, andSamuel would do anything to break his promise and tell it to Jennifer; to speakand cause a reaction other than fright. Then again, he should be lucky he wasable to make his voice heard at all.
Sarah,a quick thinker, began to mess around with the radio antenna. It made Samuelthink of his friend Tesla. If only he could somehow contact the man. There wereways to communicate with the living after all, ways to break down the barrier.It was then that Samuel wished he had warned Sarah and Jennifer. Or least askedthem to spread the word about infant-devouring shadows.
Thereis tragedy in the form of an accident, and then there is malice. Sarahcontinued to fiddle with the radio while Samuel posed, ready to make hisre-emergence, practicing what he would say. Sarah spent an hour with thatthing, but they never saw Samuel again.
Time,what effect does it truly have on intention? When Samuel was a boy in Missouri,he thought he’d grow up to be a steamship captain. As a businessman, he nearly lostall of his book earnings with his idea for a typesetting machine, that blastedthing. Given that Samuel had no money to lose or prestigious awards to win inhis current state, he wondered where he would draw the line and decide that hefailed in his investigation. What would become of him when he did so? If hegave up, would he move on? What would Liv and the girls think of him? Surelythey were watching.
Ayoung family moved into the building, a man and a woman and their twodaughters, ages six and nine months. For upwards of a year, they were fine,despite Samuel spending so much time roaming their third-floor unit that heforgot details about the other tenants. He even stopped monitoring Sarah andJennifer, who continued to tell their story of seeing him to everyone in thebuilding, maybe even the city. Hell, Samuel thought, maybe in some way he wasthe ‘Bell of New York’ all over again.
Evilis never consistent, he began to conclude. It rests often, for it would beotherwise discovered. Like a criminal pushing his luck, score after score, bodyafter body. Evil is intelligence and if
