“That’ll be my lungs,” Daniel said.
“I think I’m supposed to bury them with your remains,” Jesse said, folding the material with reverence over the compressed and dried mass of organs.
“Then we have to rip apart some stairs,” Daniel said. He stopped and looked at Jesse. “Pardon me for saying this, but you don’t look so good.”
“I used to be dead but not dead-dead,” Jesse said. “I think I still have to release the other two.”
“Ah them. They will be a problem,” Daniel said. “Wait until Murphy returns. I need to find Miss Faye.”
“To say goodbye?” Jesse asked.
“No, I’m not sure I’m going yet. I’m going to be there to be a shoulder to cry on when Jon leaves her.”
“You’re a good man, Daniel Sullivan.”
Daniel smiled and sunk through the floor.
Jesse sat up. “North, south, east then west? Or was it west then east?” he questioned.
“North, south, east then west,” Murphy said, moving through the outer wall of the attic.
“I told you to stay with Cid.”
“I don’t always do as I’m told. I do what is right,” Murphy professed. “What are you doing?”
“I freed Jon’s heart and placed it inside his remains. I have Daniel’s lungs in Wayne’s shirt. I was cautioned by Daniel to wait for you before releasing the acolytes.”
“Did you ever find their remains?” Murphy asked.
“No.”
“Do we think this is important?” Murphy voiced.
“We don’t know?”
“You’ve been claimed by death.”
“Briefly.”
“Take a moment, close your eyes, and listen.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know. I’ve seen Mia do this. She reaches out into the universe with her question. Beyond that, I don’t know what happens.”
Jesse set the flannel-wrapped bundle down and let his arms go slack. He closed his eyes and concentrated on slowing his breathing until he could fit his entire question in the time of his inhale. Should I release the acolytes? And on the exhale, Do I need to find their remains first?
Before his closed eyes the blackness receded until all he could see was white. It watered his eyes, but it wasn’t as uncomfortable as the light that had assaulted him when he had opened the north box.
Should I release the acolytes? he repeated.
A voice that was neither male nor female answered him, “Yes. East then west. You do not need to find their remains. There is only what is left in the box to bury. Take that and bury it with the other remains in the walnut grove. Go in peace, Jesse Holden.”
Jesse opened his eyes.
Murphy looked at him.
“We don’t need to find the remains, but we do need to bury what we find in the boxes in the graveyard you found in the walnut grove.”
“East then west,” Murphy said, turning Jesse’s body eastward.
It took a few moments because the east box didn’t have flooring to walk, and then crawl, on as he lost headroom. Jon’s original pathway to the boxes had been ripped up by the last crew who insulated the attic. Jesse had to straddle the joists, moving slowly as to not lose his balance. He reached the box, and the first of the two remaining keys didn’t fit. The second key did, and he carefully turned the lock. The box opened to expose a dark spongy mass. Jesse took off his undershirt and poked and pried with the key until the gray mass was released from the box. He laid it in the undershirt and carefully turned around.
Manifesting behind Murphy was a very angry woman covered only partly in a ripped dark robe. She drew something out from the recesses of her cloak.
“Murphy, watch your back!” Jesse warned.
Murphy turned in time to deflect a dagger.
“How dare you attack us. We are releasing you!” Jesse said from his undignified crouch. “What did they take from you? I have recovered the heart of Jon O’Connor and the lungs of Daniel Sullivan. What is this?” Jesse asked, holding up the undershirt, the weight of which increased with every second he held it.
“My bones. Where is my mistress?”
“If you’re talking about the demon who killed you and put your bones in that box, then she would be on the first floor of this house. Before you go, what may I expect to find in the west box?”
“Blood, lots of blood,” the spirit said, moving quickly to pick up her dagger before sinking through the floor.
Jesse crawled then balance-walked his way to the center. On the secure flooring he took off Wayne’s boots. He doubted that they would hold liquid, but they would have to do. He made his way to the west box, chose the final key, and opened the box.
He reared back expecting the blood to pump out like a sliced artery. Instead, there was a very thick drip. Jesse caught it in a boot and left the boot to catch any other following drips.
“Guard your back,” he warned Murphy. “I don’t know what we’re dealing with here.”
The next drip was bigger and eased out like a slug. The one after that was so gelatinous that it plopped. The box was now empty. Jesse picked up the boot and turned to make his way to the center of the attic.
A cold hand pulled him backwards hard. The strength of the fingers was unsettling. In the spirit’s other hand he had a spectral hammer. Jesse dropped the
