Faye heard the oozing slide of the negative elemental. Without a human host, and the minuscule amount of drained power it possessed, it was more of a thick tar than an actual form.
Faye stood very still behind the door. Jon kept waving her away, and she vigorously shook her head.
Jon stood in the middle of the room hoping to draw the elemental’s eye. Maybe after he fed, he wouldn’t see Faye, as he would be keen on finding Blue Daniel.
The elemental launched itself at Jon.
Jon closed his eyes, fearing the intense pain the elemental’s power drain caused the ghost.
Nothing happened? Nothing with the exception of a swish of air and a loud clang that rattled the windows. He opened his eyes to see Faye wearing oven gloves. She had caught the elemental in full flight and knocked the power out of him with Cid’s large iron skillet she had brought from the trailer.
“He’s trapped under the pan. Careful, that’s high-quality iron. Iron isn’t your friend. Blue Daniel!” Faye called out. “Jon needs help!”
Faye stumbled backwards when Blue Daniel materialized. He indeed was blue - that particular blue that death by suffocation brings on. His face had a permanent look of shock. She could tell it took the ghost a lot of power to close his blue lips.
“How can I help?” Blue Daniel asked.
“I’m going to give you each enough energy to go into the kitchen. Cid has some blue boxes piled on the counter. Don’t touch them with your hands. Here,” she said, handing him one of the gloves. “Use this. Grab a box and come back here in a hurry.” She touched Blue Daniel. His color seemed to deepen. He pushed away from her and left.
Faye gave a little more energy to Jon. He kissed her hand after and moved quickly from the room.
They brought back the boxes. Faye managed to hide the searing pain she was feeling from the residual salt that spilled out as the aluminum spout snapped open. Faye prayed the elemental was still under the skillet. This was a smart creature. It would have learned a lesson from the iron nail Alan used on Kiki. All Faye managed to do was knock it out before covering him with the pan. She took back her gloves and poured a thick salt line around the pan. She lifted the pan, and the black tar stayed in a small flat disc.
“He doesn’t look so scary now,” Jon said.
“He looks like a burnt johnnycake,” Blue Daniel said. “Why did you take the pan off, Miss?”
“Iron is tricky. Some ghosts can build up a tolerance. I didn’t want to take the chance. Now, salt hurts. It hurts a lot. In his present condition, he won’t want to try to cross it. This will give him a time-out… keep him put, for a while. Hopefully enough time for you to build up your strength. I’m going to go and recharge. I’ll be back,” she promised.
“Faye, we spend our nights in the nursery. We’re not much to look at, especially him,” Jon said, pointing to Blue Daniel. “But we would love it if you would spend some time with us. You know, swap stories. We Orish love to spin a yarn.”
“I’ll be there. What about the crazy ones?”
“They only can get to the first floor. There is something that stops them.”
“Leave this room. I’ll pour a salt line so the others can’t get in and smudge the circle.”
“Warn your building men,” Blue Daniel said and moved through the ceiling.
“I will,” Faye said.
“Thank you,” Jon said and followed his friend upwards.
Faye sealed off the room.
~
The room lit up with a flash and then another. The elemental drew into itself until it was smaller than ever. It fought to control the vile hatred that clouded its mind. It needed to be calm to figure out how to draw enough energy to escape this prison.
Cid sent the video footage and pictures to Audrey and Orion, who commented to the men on speaker, “How on earth did you trap an elemental without an angel involved?’”
“We do think of Faye as an angel,” Jesse said.
“Faye, our company ghost, hit him when he was low energy with a vintage iron skillet,” Cid explained.
“Not your pride and joy?” Audrey inquired.
“Yes, the very one. She then poured a salt ring with the help of two of the resident ghosts.”
“How?” Audrey and Orion asked in unison.
“Oven mitts. It put enough insulation between her and the salt, but she did have to touch the spouts of the kosher salt boxes.”
“She is very brave. I’m sending her an eBook card,” Audrey said. “I reward good behavior with books.”
Faye, who was lounging against the wall in something resembling a silk three-piece heliotrope pajama set, smiled.
“What are you going to do now?” Orion asked. “Negative elementals are tricky things.”
“I don’t want to kill it or remove it from the property. Kiki’s contract is very specific about releasing the ghosts. Until I can speak personally with Bridgeton Atwater, I would like to contain this thing.”
“Nesting dolls,” Audrey said. “In Mia’s notes, she mentions putting a demon ghost into a jar with a lid and then setting it in a larger jar or canister and filling the canister with salt. She also says, ‘Put that canister in one of Cid’s lead comic book boxes. He has a shitload of them.’”
Cid’s ears turned red. “I didn’t bring a lead box with me,” Cid said through his teeth.
