Chapter 6
Alicia Silver stared at Tommy Harris. “Well that was a fine mess. It spoiled all of my fun. Still, it presents a puzzle. How shall I get around Amberline Darko’s spell so as to kill Steve Webster.”
Tommy said, “Why not just leave Steve alone?”
“No. The way I have it figured, if I were to shoot a bullet at Steve the bullet would come back to shoot me. I tried to use a serial killer to kill Steve and the serial killer tried to kill me. I wonder if I were to order you to kill Steve if then you would try to kill me. Is the spell so powerful that it would cause a betrayal even given our bond.”
“Please do not give such an order.”
“I can rescind the order. That was so proven with Kyle.”
“What if you can’t rescind it in time?”
“Do you honestly think you would be able to kill me?”
“I do not wish to anger you but still I fear I must warn you with a reminder. The mortal serial killer had you running.”
“But now I know to rescind the order.”
“True but please do not give me such an order.”
“I want you to suck the blood, the life from Jane Wilifar until she is near death. I want you to gain control of her so that she is your slave. Then you know what I wish for you to order her to do. You do know the order that I will not this moment mention.”
“Of course. I will make her my slave and I will order her to kill Steve Webster and then she will try to kill me.”
“I think the spell is specific to me.”
“And if you are wrong?”
“If she tries to kill you then you rescind the order.”
“So I guess that I am going to New York.”
* * *
Billy helped everyone settle into Hutch’s place. They very quickly discovered that all the interviews had been cancelled as someone had sent word that Kyle Kingerstone would not be available. Alicia indeed had used a spell to clean the murder scene of Kyle before the police arrived. No one knew that he was dead.
June Ross was rather pissed that her five minutes of fame had been cancelled. Then Hutch offered her a job at the magazine he had decided to buy from his friend. That made her very happy. Sissy and Howard were glad that they were going to have time to go site seeing around New York and not be bothered with having to prep for or do any media interviews. They had no desire to work or live in New York.
Steve drove over to Jane’s place. He would be staying with her. That was the plan. She greeted him at the door to her mansion with a smile and Steve remembered how much fun they’d had together. They had remained friends after her move, at first with frequent communications, but then they had grown apart and of course Steve did prefer men to women. Still, there had been a spark between the two. It was not a platonic relationship. Steve had enjoyed sex with Jane.
Steve came into the main room of the mansion. He looked around at the tasteful, conservative decor. Then his stare fixed upon Jane dressed in colorful, almost gaudy fashion. “I’ve never been here before. Still it seems so familiar. And that hippy like, 70’s dress you are wearing feels as though it is an ordinary part of your every day look though I suspect you have not changed that much. I’ve never seen you wearing that style and yet I think I have.” Steve took a deep breath. In an apprehensive voice he stated, “I’ve dreamed this moment before.”
Jane laughed. “And what happened next in this moment, your dream?”
Steve picked Jane up into his arms. He looked at the staircase. “Your bedroom is the first bedroom on the right at the top of the stairs and that is where I am going to carry you.” Steve carried her up the stairs. He gently laid her down on the bed. He crawled into the bed and lay next to her. He snuggled with her. He kissed her on the neck. Each side of her tender neck he kissed. There was no vampire mark and yet he thought there might be. Steve said, “Jane you are in danger. Do you believe in vampires?”
“No.”
Steve pulled out his cellphone. He called Billy. “You know how you told me about Tommy Harris being a vampire and that he was with Alicia Silver.”
Billy said, “Yes.”
“I think Jane is in jeopardy from him. I’ve had some kind of premonition. Jane is in danger.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Come over here to her place. Stay here with us.”
“Okay.”
Steve and Billy hung up. Jane gave Steve a hard look. She got out of bed and walked over to her dresser. She began to brush her hair.
“I remember you brushing your hair that way when you were angry. I am sorry I have made you mad. I am scared for you.”
Jane said, “You should be scared for yourself.”
“Why? I don’t understand.”
Tommy stepped out of the closet. “I didn’t bite her. I just hypnotized her. I didn’t want to hurt her. I don’t want to hurt you but Alicia…”
Steve said, “But you will bite her. You will feed on her. That is what I saw. I didn’t see you coming out of the closet. I didn’t see this moment.”
Jane pulled a gun from her dresser drawer. She pointed the gun at Steve. She pulled the trigger. Her aim was off and the bullet struck into the wall. She fired another bullet and it vanished.
Tommy heard Alicia screaming in thought. “I am having to outrun this damn fucking bullet. Rescind the order. Rescind the order.”
Tommy screamed, “Order rescinded.”
Tommy then vanished and Jane passed out and fell to the floor. Steve picked Jane up into his arms. You are still in danger from the vampire witch and her slave. Steve put Jane into her bed. “I wish Billy would get here soon.”
* * *
When Billy arrived at Jane Wilfar’s Mansion he did not knock on the door as the door was not locked. He entered the mansion and called out for Steve. Steve walked to the top of the stairs and looked down at Billy.
Steve said, “Your friend Tommy Harris was here. He had Jane hypnotized to shoot me, When she shot at me, the bullet fired through the ether so that the Vampire Witch Alicia Silver had to run from the bullet.”
“Run from a bullet. She must be fast.”
“And dangerous. Do you know of a way to change the future so that Jane will not be bit by Tommy the Vampire?”
“I don’t know shit and I don’t know how to get the Legman to come out and protect you.”
Jane came out of her room. “What happened? Did I really try to shoot you or was that just a dream?”
“It was real. You were hypnotized but at least he didn’t bite you to make you his slave in that way.”
Jane looked down at Billy. “You were not lying when you told me how handsome Billy Bingo is. It would have been fun to have had a three-way with him.”
“What do you mean would have? It is still possible. We can ask?”
Jane shook her head no. “Steve, the main reason I wanted you to come here for my brother’s wedding is I wanted you to come here so I could tell you something.”
“What?” Steve asked.
“I have a cancer. I am dying. I might live another couple of years or I might die in just a few months.”
Steve wasn’t sure what to say. His heart sank. He mumbled, “There must be some way to save you?”
“No. The cancer has spread too far. My doctors have been honest with me. They say there is no hope.”
“My mom knows witches who have healing powers. When Billy is the Legman he might have healing powers. You can be healed.”
“No. I am ready to die.”
“Ready to die. That is a crazy bitch ass thing to think.”
Jane laughed. “You always did know the right thing to say. Not.”
Steve tried to sound tough but his voice cracked. “Don’t say you want to die. Now I wish Tommy had bit you and turned you into a vampire.”
Jane said, “I am tired and I am ready to leave this world. I believe in God. I believe in heaven. I am not afraid.”
“Please don’t give up on life.” Steve tried to joke. “As much as you like three-ways; I suspect three-ways are frowned upon in heaven.”
Jane shrugged. “I don’t know. When I think of heaven I always picture Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and James Dean in a three-way. I sure would like to be Marilyn Monroe in that sandwich.”
The Legman whispered to Billy, “That girl is never going to make it to heaven but she will be welcomed to a good place. I will not let her be taken to hell.”
Billy whispered back to his inner-self. “Can you cure her cancer?”
The Legman whispered, “My magic cannot save someone who wants to die.”
Billy walked up the stairs. “They will not let you into heaven.”
Steve screamed, “Billy! You of all people should not judge. Why would you say such a thing to someone who is dying?”
Billy ignored Steve but focused on Jane. He told her, “You can be cured but only if you want to live. Tell me, why do you want to die?”
“I am ready to die but that does not mean that I want to die.”
“But you do.” Billy said as the Legman emerged and Billy became the Legman. “If you want to live I can cure you; but the truth is that you do not want to live. Tell me what is so awful that you have given up on life.”
“If you know so much then you tell me.”
The Legman thought a moment. “You were pregnant with Steve’s son and you had an abortion. That has preyed on your mind, on your sanity, to the point that you wish yourself dead. I can put your son back inside of you. You can have a happy son. Will that make you want to live?”
“What if I am not a good mother? What if I am such a bad mother I hurt him worse than even not allowing him to be born?”
“You are providing a vessel for a soul that already is and that soul is as reluctant to want life as you are reluctant to give it. He is scared just as you are scared.”
“Why?”
“His last life was not a very pleasant life. Truth is, there is some comfort when we are in the shadows of death. On some level you remember that peaceful calm; that resting sleep of death. It can be nice when all is calm just as it can be scary when the shadows frolic and the heathen rage. Even as horrifying as the shadows can be, earth can also seem a creepy, intimidating abode of human tragedy and painful shackles that create memories haunting even into the shadows of death. The lives we live on earth can make the shadows that much more frightening. There is the fear of what is in the shadows and there is the fear of what might be in life. It is that fear, and dare I say regret, that freezes both of you in a moment of time that is your sorrow and your shame.”
“Sorrow? Shame? It is more a fear that rest in self doubt that caused my decision I sometimes do regret. I doubted and do doubt that I can be a good mother. What if I can’t give him a pleasant life? What if I raise him to be a failure or worse: a criminal. What if I raise him to be a serial killer or even more nightmarish, the President of the United States?”
“To show him grace. To love him. To help him find the light. That will be pleasant enough and you will have help.”
“You are that powerful of a witch. You can honestly put my baby back inside of me.”
“I can and if you want to live, I can help you to live. What is your choice? The choice is yours.”
Jane smiled at Steve. “Dear, are you ready to be a father?”
Steve grabbed Jane up into his arms and together they spun round with smiles and laughter.
So the Legman placed the baby back inside of Jane and her cancer vanished.
Steve told Jane, “So I guess we should plan a wedding.”
Jane shook her head no. “I want you to be the father of my baby and be a good father. I want us to have a closeness and keep the love we have always shared alive. To some, I guess, marriage is a beautiful thing but it is not for us. You will find someone who has a dick between their legs who will share your home and I…. Well, I don’t know if I will ever find a love greater than my love for you but I will look.”
The Legman asked, “So what of the man who left you alone, dying, in this place you chose to be your tomb?”
“Do I need to tell you? Can’t you just know it.”
“You do not need to tell me. You do not need to tell Steve?”
“Tell me what?” Steve asked.
Jane whispered, “Tell him.”
“He tried to kill her. He stole money from her. He kept her a virtual prisoner here until her brother discovered what was happening?”
Steve screamed, “I will kill him. What is his name? If you do not tell me, I will find it out.”
The Legman said, “He is a ghost now. He is in this room. If he does not leave this place soon his ghost will find the angels of hell coming for him.”
Jane said, “I felt he has been haunting me, but my health has been fragile and with that my sanity.”
The Legman nodded. “He is gone now. He knows not to return.”
Steve said, “I am still afraid for Jane. I still can’t forget that premonition where I saw Tommy Harris bite Jane.”
“Every time he or any vampire tries to bite her they will be returned to their coffin. I do not wish Tommy to be hurt. I think there is hope for him.”
The Legman then vanished back into Billy and Billy emerged. Billy remembered not what had been said or had transpired. Steve told him some of it but not all of it. Steve now fully understood that Billy was not just a witch but a great deal more. How much more he could only guess in fantasy. A lesser god? A hand for the greater God? In early days the visages of the lesser gods were partly for their pleasure but even then they played a part in a greater destiny. New ages are not forged by mortals or even witches. They are forged by the lesser gods in agreement with the One God. When they come to earth there is indeed something afoot. That is what Steve’s mother had told him. Linda had asked her son what purpose Steve thought Billy might serve. Steve had no idea. At the time the conversation had seemed somewhat silly as at that time he did not know that which his mother would later teach him.
Steve stared at Billy as did Jane. They both knew they were with a great one and yet as Billy he seemed somewhat ordinary. Steve said, “The Legman has helped us in ways we know he is not an ordinary witch.”
Billy nodded.
“A lesser god does not come to earth to just be Billy Bingo.” Steve paused as he considered his words. “Some say lesser gods come to earth to forge a new age. What do you think the new age might be like that the gods are planning?”
“I don’t know. You should have asked the Legman.”
Steve smiled. “I doubt he would have answered. Still, I have my curiosity as I feel I am on the cusp of being part of something great, but I don’t know what. I had heard things that had made me think the Legman was something of a hood. Dangerous. Then there he was with us and I saw a kindness about him. He helped us.”
“I am glad he helped you. Understand though I was the one who was the gang member, the hood. I was the one who was dangerous. I was the one who had murder in my heart for what was done to my mother.”
Jane said, “You are the same person. He is somewhere inside you and you are somewhere inside him. I know you are both good.”
“I hope that is who I am. Good. Good both in wanting to help people as well as having the skill to help them. Still, I have a military mind and I look at adversaries as a potential conquest on a battlefield.” Billy was not sure why he would have said such a thing to Jane. Billy questioned himself. “Are those my words or the Legman’s words?”