Othernaturals Book Two: Lucid

Othernaturals Book Two:

Lucid

Christina Harlin

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 Christina Harlin

Visit the author at http://www.christinaharlin.com

Cover art by diversepixel.com.

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Othernaturals Season 5: Episode 3

Undisclosed Location, 1-29 North, Missouri, June 2014

Prologue

For six miles in each direction, healthy corn fields swayed in the June winds. But on this wretched acre of land? Nothing intentionally planted here ever grew. This earth was sown with a different kind of seed.

Mr. Durham, a middle-aged farmer and the unfortunate owner of the acre, informed the Othernaturals of this. Plant a seed here, and whatever manages to come out of the ground will die in a week.

Despite this, the acre was not barren. For the past hundred years or more the ground had been given up to nature. The plants that grew here of their own accord were wild and threatening, trees with great thorns three inches long, choking vines and cloying sweet honeysuckle that swarmed and overtook what structures used to stand, leaving behind unrecognizable masses housing wasps and hornets. The thorny trees often broke and tumbled to make new dark fences out of themselves.

Local people threw things out here sometimes: washing machines, or tires, or just detritus that they could find no other place for. Dead center, a huge rusted tractor held court. Some thirty years before, it taken the leg of a stubborn farmer who decided he would farm this land no matter what. The tractor was left behind to mark the spot. Around the acre was a barbed wire fence with warnings posted. DANGER DO NOT ENTER.

Don’t need the signs. Everybody keeps out anyway, said Farmer Durham. Folks are scared to death of the place.

On a sunny day, the sun did not seem to strike this acre’s ground, and on a moonlit night, shadows covered it that could not be explained. Othernaturals’ producer and host Rosemary Sharpe asked if there were sightings on the land, of ghosts or anything else, for it seemed that such an ill-feeling area would produce visions in those who dared to look.

No, no ghosts, she was told. We never see anything. We know not to bother it, said Farmer Durham.

He said to the Othernaturals team as they prepared to investigate the acre, Be careful in there, for God’s sake, and he refused to set foot inside with them.

Thinking of the acre as inside was odd, because they were outside on that warm early summer night, but then again, there was a distinct closeted feeling about the land, as if it were surrounded by something mightier than barbed wire.

The seven of them, Rosemary and her team, had parked their rented RV on the road just nearby. They called the ground the Cursed Acre because that was what Farmer Durham called it. "Farm the Cursed Acre? Hell’s bells, we don’t even walk on it."

The Cursed Acre rotted in the southwestern corner of a 180-acre farmland property, which was in turn surrounded by similar properties in every direction. If one were looking down from a small aircraft overhead, the Cursed Acre stood out like a moth-eaten hole in a gold and green quilt.

It was connected to the world by a seldom-used dirt road which powdered the way toward the Durham farmstead, but the Durham’s home was too far away to comfortably accommodate the team and they didn’t want to bother the Durham family anyway. They were only out here for one night or possibly two, because the area was small, and there was reportedly nothing much to see. Most of the show’s episode would be made of interviews with and speculation from those who had come in contact with this unnatural piece of land. Rosemary hoped to interview the last living person who’d actually lost a body part here (Farmer Durham’s own grandfather) if she could get the nursing home to cooperate. Nursing homes sometimes did not like cameras inside their facilities.

Rosemary was surprised to see her normally daring team so uneasy about this dreadful little field. Perhaps the place was giving off a smell that hinted of death. From the moment they had arrived out here, Stefan, their medium, and Andrew, their psychic, had been anxious. Andrew declared immediately, This is a nasty place. Don’t park the RV in here. Seriously don’t.

With no hesitation Stefan nodded his agreement.

Andrew added, And Greg, you’ll want to keep your equipment behind the fence unless you don’t mind losing it.

That was why they parked on the road, though Rosemary had rather hoped they could park the RV inside the field and work from there. But she could work with the change of plans, especially if the warnings were nice and ominous. I have to follow the advice of my experts, she said when Greg filmed her assessment. If they say parking inside the field is a bad idea, then I need to respect their warning. We’ve never dealt with cursed ground before.

When they were done with the scene, she teased the pair of them. I love it that you two give dire warnings in stereo.

As instructed, Greg took as much film as he could from outside the barbed wire perimeter and set his stationary cameras up beyond the fence. According to rumor, machinery and electronics did not function properly inside the barbed wire. Is it magnetic forces? asked Greg speculatively. He took readings with the equipment he had. He brought out a compass and watched with delight as it spun crazily inside the fence line.

But more convincing than the machinery’s failure to cooperate was that Rosemary’s psychic and her medium were both so on edge they could hardly sit still. In fact they both retreated into the RV as often as they were allowed, and Rosemary caught them whispering to each other. So, they were either suddenly having a passionate love affair, or they were quite upset by the spot. Until they got here, Stefan had been rather cool toward the recently hired Andrew. Here, on this Cursed Acre, they were friends in dread.

As Andrew and Stefan lurked about with their gloomy faces, Kaye, their healer, savagely crunched one jawbreaker after another as she fretted on the outskirts of the acre.

It’s like the ground itself is sick. Kaye knew sickness; she could smell it and it drove her mad. I don’t know how to fix it, though. It’s not one thing or stuck in one place.

Sally Friend, who thrived on the energy of others, was soaking up the anxiety, and thus was as fearful and snappish as everyone else, angry that she was stuck inside the RV until the sun went down. Judge tried to console Sally and entertain her with card tricks but he was unable to appease her, plus he was terrified that his cat Vladimir would get out of the RV. Vladimir yowled to be let loose. Here was a field full of all kinds of things to chase. Judge was taking no chances. Though he was a powerful animal empath, he was unsure of his ability to convey to his adored little hunter that the fence must not be crossed, especially not if Vladimir became distracted chasing a butterfly or a moth under the barbed wire.

Don’t let Vladimir in there, had said Andrew. I feel hundreds of tiny skeletons all over this place. Things don’t live here for long.

Kaye agreed. This place is full of death.

Only Rosemary and Greg were calm. Greg was excited by the logistic problem of filming a show where cameras would supposedly fail. Rosemary was afraid of very little.

At last when setup was complete, Rosemary stood looking over the Cursed Acre’s tangle of trash and wild growth from outside the fence, in a row with her teammates. She asked the group, What in the hell is it?

It’s bad ground, answered Stefan. Brentley is positive of it.

Someone did this on purpose, added Andrew.

Kaye said, If I had to call it something, I would say it was poisoned.

Well are we going to go in? asked Greg from behind his camera.

There was some reticence. Andrew glanced toward Rosemary and she returned the look. He wanted to ask her something but wasn’t ready to do it.

Stefan would, though. Stefan trusted her. He asked, Can Rosemary keep it off us? Can you, sweetheart?

With brow furrowed Rosemary studied the field. I honestly can’t tell yet. I won’t know until we’re inside. If we get in and it doesn’t feel like I’m in control, I’ll give the word and out we go again.

Kaye demanded promises. Don’t leave us in there just to make a good show. Not if it’s dangerous.

Rosemary thought about taking offense at the notion that she would do such a thing, but then chose not to. Kaye had fair reason to think Rosemary was opportunistic. So Rosemary made the required words. I promise I won’t. I’ll be in there with you all the way, and out with you if it isn’t safe.

They waited until dark, not merely for the atmosphere of nighttime but because it was when Sally Friend could finally come out and be in the scenes with them. Judge held a camera and Greg did too, as usual (If they work, great, and if they don’t, oh well, had commented Greg), and three different cameras filmed from tripods outside the Cursed Acre. The Othernaturals propped open the single gate (DANGER DO NOT ENTER! proclaimed its sign) and stepped inside the boundary where the moonlight faded to almost nothing. Their own lights would have to show the way, assuming their flashlights would continue to work.

Rosemary held a pose of readiness, her telepathy a big rangy net reaching out to the world. She was meant to keep any bad forces at bay while her team did what they could to determine the cause of this land’s foul luck, to be the first line of defense against anything that flung itself at them. She was not sure herself how her talent worked, only that it did. The energy that surrounded her was usually at her whim. She had to be on alert here because this was a legitimately messed up corner of the world.

Ordinarily, if they faced a hoax or a seriously overestimated haunting, Rosemary might aid her webshow by spicing things up a bit, ramping up the fear factor and putting some unnerving thoughts and visions into the minds of her teammates. It was very easy to make people believe they saw or heard something; brains are ready to be tricked. But here, she need not do a thing. The Cursed Acre was doing all the work as far as scares were concerned.

All right, Rosemary told them, to keep them moving forward. It’s ugly, but I don’t think it minds if we’re just looking.

As a group they moved forward toward the center of the acre. Eventually they stood before the rusted hulk of the tractor, which loomed in the hazy darkness like a stoop-shouldered giant. The thing smelled of blood and rust.

It’s colder in here than it was out there, said Sally. There were a couple murmurs of agreement with that.

Do you all believe that plants have souls? asked Kaye faintly. Sometimes I wonder if they don’t have some kind of elementary soul. The trees here feel like they’re plotting. The ground is sick and everything growing out of it is sick too. I guess I could try to find the source of the sickness. She crouched, meaning to put her hands on the tractor.

Stefan stopped her, a hand to her shoulder. Don’t touch it. Brentley is with Rosemary on this one – we’re allowed to look but don’t try to change anything.

But these are plants, Stefan. What are they going to do, grow at me? Anything that happens here is going to happen over months, not seconds.

Unless that tractor springs to life and chases us, joked a nervous Judge.

Let’s get a better feel of the place before we mess with anything, Rosemary suggested.

Andrew had gone pale and quiet since they’d entered, and he concentrated hard, watching the ground and not listening to them. The rest of the group became aware of his trancelike pose and went still, waiting for him to come to a verdict, either because they wholeheartedly believed he would (in Rosemary’s case) or because they were very interested in what he might make up (in everyone else’s cases, to varying degrees).

Decades ago. Maybe a century. There was a lynching here. That tree. Andrew pointed to one tortured tree that had twisted and died and yet remained, reaching its thick leafless branches over the ground in a gesture of wanton display. A mob and a lynching, a man accused of, no never mind, I can’t make it out. Mob mentality is crazy. I can never pick it apart. I never know what they were thinking. They see devils.

Rosemary checked to make sure Andrew was being filmed. She loved it when Andrew lost his sense of self and vanished into his talent. He grew poetic and unguarded and it was one of the few times she could look at him closely without fear he’d catch her at it.

Flinching, Kaye asked, Did the lynching itself curse the ground?

More to it than that, replied Andrew. Now he held his hand out as if he touched the air itself. He held this pose of attention for some time. This was revenge. A woman came here. The lynched man’s woman, or someone she hired. Someone with power that feels like yours, and he gestured at Rosemary without really looking at her. This one knew how to lay a curse. She put one down here. There was blood and an unwilling sacrifice, one of the mob I think. There were totems used. I see bones. Hair. This was a heavy curse. So here on this ground, two murders, a mob, a capable telepath with vengeance in mind who knew what she was doing. Every time blood is shed here the curse is layered again. It’s deep.

The history of the ground matched this description: over the past century, as it passed from generation to generation of the inhabiting family, the acre had been the site of three bizarre deaths and multiple injuries - always injuries done to those tried to take the land apart. Anyone chopping down a tree or clearing a rock was asking to lose body parts, fingers and toes, or sometimes entire arms and legs.

So this is genuine cursed ground, murmured Greg.

What does Brentley think? Rosemary asked.

Stefan smirked humorlessly. He says the ground is hungry.

Rosemary had sensed nothing threatening yet, but just now she had the definite feeling that they were overstaying their welcome. Such things have limits to their patience.

Presently, folks, we’ll want to make our way back to the gate, she said. Before we go, is there anything else? Anyone?

Judge bent over and picked something up from the ground – a rock by the looks of it. He held it in his free hand and blew the dirt off. This is a skull, he said. A little squirrel? Or is it a bat? Someone shine a light on this.

Gross! Sally exclaimed. She had just noticed, as had everyone else, that the area around the tractor was liberally decorated with little skeletons, like something had picked the bones clean off a legion of mice. They had stepped on a few. "Oh my god."

They all picked up their feet, distressed at where they stood. Kaye grunted in shared disgust. All right, since we’re going soon, I’m touching the tractor now.

Rosemary checked the mood of the air. Look, I don’t think there would be a problem with just touching it, but what does everyone else think?

Kaye simply leaned forward and planted her hands on the tractor’s wheel well. No need for it to be a committee meeting. It’s my decision. Give me just a second.

Sally fidgeted, backing away. Kaye come on, it’s bad in here. I don’t like this. Let’s just go.

Sally, don’t. Stay with us, said Stephan.

No really I’m starting to freak out. Those skulls. This is awful. Judge, come on.

Just a second, said Kaye again. I can’t even see through all the sickness here. I’ve never seen anything like this.

She stroked the wheel well and there was a rusty shuffling beneath her hands and then a burst of movement as bats, a surprising number of little bats, came flapping crazily out of the tractor’s skeleton in a flurried confusion of leathery wings. As a group the Othernaturals gasped or barked in surprise and fell back. Tape would later show that Judge had actually laughed aloud. He loved bats. But Sally shrieked in terror and fled, stumbling backwards a few steps and then turning to run full out. She had gotten no more than four strides when she screamed – really screamed this time, and in pain – and went down, clutching her foot.

They rushed to her. Rosemary couldn’t tell at first what had even happened, then she saw something black and messy all over Sally’s white sneaker, and something stuck to her shoe – a dead cornstalk? Wait, no. Realization dawned on Rosemary at the same time as it came to everyone and there was a moment when they all held their breath together. The long stalk, petrified to a deadly sharpness, was not stuck to Sally’s shoe but stuck through it, and through her foot as well. The dark fluid was blood, from where her foot had been pierced. Sally went quiet as fast as she had begun to scream, her breath coming in great shallow whoops.

Rosemary got under Sally and lifted her, supporting the girl on one of her shoulders. Someone help me, she said. Andrew come here, help me. Judge, meet us at the RV with the first aid kit. Stefan, turn around and get ready to piggy-back. Greg keep filming! Kaye, are you going to be able to help with this?

Bet your ass, said Kaye. ‘I’ll go get washed up." She and Judge together hurried ahead of the group, but they watched their steps with care.

Okay, Andrew, on three we’re going to put Sally on Stefan’s back, okay? One two three. They lifted her onto Stefan.

Hold onto me, babygirl, said Stefan to Sally, as a dad might tell his little daughter.

Hold tight, Sally, said Rosemary, rushing alongside Stefan. We’re going to get you fixed up. You’ll be just fine.

Whatever drama the Cursed Acre might wish to continue was unsuccessful; if it had wanted to hurt one of them, it had accomplished that much, but now the team was so focused on Sally that they hardly thought about anything but getting her back to the trailer so they could take her to a hospital. So much for further scares. None of them even thought about the danger of sustaining their own injuries as they raced back. Wiry Stefan was a fast runner and had Sally outside the fence in mere seconds, leaving a trail of Sally’s dripping blood behind them to soak into the ground, then all the way to the trailer in a few seconds more. Rosemary and Andrew kept pace with him, Greg bringing up the rear. They left the Cursed Acre’s gate hanging open.

Andrew held the RV’s door open and helped maneuver Sally inside. Gingerly they placed on one of the fold-out beds. Andrew said, Greg, keys – let’s get to the hospital.

But Andrew didn’t have a chauffeur’s license, complained Greg, even as he pushed his camera into Stefan’s hands and hurried to the front. Sally wept openly now, twisting in pain. Andrew went to the front with Greg to get on the GPS and find the closest emergency room.

All right, everybody make room, said Kaye as the RV rumbled to life. She took the first aid kit that Judge offered in her freshly washed hands and went to sit beside Sally. Judge and Stefan moved back enough to stay clear while still recording events, and Vladimir the cat took one look at the chaos and vanished under a cabinet, offended that his personal drama had been interrupted. Only Rosemary stayed near Sally, holding the young woman’s hand.

Hey, she said, reaching out to Sally with her mind, demanding the young woman’s focus. It’s okay now.

This hurts so bad, Sally wept.

No, it’s not so bad, said Rosemary, holding Sally’s eyes. With all that adrenaline? You probably can hardly feel a thing. Feel sorry for us, why don’t you? We’re the ones you scared silly.

Sally actually chuckled, her tear-streaked face calmer now. I did get kind of loud there.

And all for what, some little poke in the foot? asked Rosemary ruefully. She kept Sally’s attention on her, pushing pain and fear away from her awareness. Someone’s a drama queen.

Bitch, hiccupped Sally over the last of her sobs, with one of her natural smiles appearing. God do I hate bats though. I mean I wouldn’t hurt them, she added, glancing at Judge, but I don’t want them touching me with those wings. It looked like there were a thousand.

There were probably fifteen, scoffed Judge.

Kaye braced herself, gave a loud grunt of exertion, and much to everyone’s shock, yanked the awful cornstalk straight out of Sally’s foot. It slid out with a sick splatter of blood smacking against the panel behind Kaye; the stake was streaked with the stuff. Everyone gasped except Sally, who was still fixated on Rosemary’s face.

Jesus, Stefan exclaimed. You shouldn’t have done that. That was for the ER to take care of.

Kaye spared him only one raised eyebrow and then jerked Sally’s ruined, blood-soaked shoe off the girl’s foot. Beneath, Sally’s foot was a horror of blood with one bizarre red gouge staring out from it, which bled quite profusely without the stalk and Sally’s shoe keeping the flow down.

Hey Rosemary, said Kaye, How is Sally doing there?

She feels just fine. Rosemary assured Kaye and Sally at the same time. Greg had just turned them onto the highway and the RV slowly picked up speed.

Let’s see here. Kaye took Sally’s foot in both hands, heedless of the blood that smeared everywhere. She put her fingers right over the wound. What a lucky girl. It looks like the stalk went through clean, no bones feel broken. Ligament and muscle damage. Can you wiggle your toes, Sally dear?

Sally wiggled, winced. Ow, that kind of –

No it doesn’t, Rosemary interrupted. Look here, drama queen, stop hogging the spotlight. You’re not seriously trying to win an Oscar with this, what, this little splinter here?

Stop making me laugh. I need to pee, Sally complained. She gazed back at Rosemary contentedly.

Hold onto her, Kaye instructed Rosemary, and Rosemary had time to see that Kaye was opening a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Kaye’s eyes lifted to Rosemary, her meaning clear.

Sally look here, said Rosemary, and she took Sally’s thoughts up and out into something that Sally was never able to feel safely: hot sunshine on her skin. Together they imagined a beautiful day on a beach with radiant sunshine pouring all over their bodies. With