Ancestral

Safe Return

It was as if the the elastic was released. I was flung back to the basement almost instantly while being surrounded by a deafening and unnatural scream. Ben was holding me tightly and I could taste the salt of his tears in his kisses. I became more aware of my surroundings, and could hear the scream's echo fading into the depths of the basement. I could also feel my body again. As silence returned to the house I struggled to look around but Ben's grip was unbreakable. I kissed him back and raised a hand to caress his face. He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes and I smiled at him, saying, “I'm ok. It's ok.”

He loosened his grip on me and sat back trying to catch his breath. I took in the scene. Nobody seemed to have moved. Miss M, Helmut, and Heather were all standing by the bricked up arch that now had a hole in it. Andi, Sylvia, and the twins were standing in the open doorway to the back part of the basement. The only ones missing were Emma and Mariah, and where Mariah had been there was a pile of ash with a few fragments of scorched bones poking out here and there. Everyone was looking at me in silence, until Andi uttered a quiet, “Thank God.”

The police arrived within twenty minutes. We all sat in the living room and waited to be interviewed. The cops quickly identified the remains of Mariah as being as old as the bones in the root cellar, so they were treating the three sets of human remains as more of a historical find than a recent murder. They looked at us askance when they asked about Mariah's remains. I think they suspected we had moved them for some unknown reason. But when the forensics were done they showed that the layering of the ash, bone, and fragments of old fabric suggested that the pile had been undisturbed since it was created about a hundred years ago While they couldn't explain how a pile of ash had laid undisturbed in the one and only doorway to the back of the cellar for that long, they conceded that we couldn't possibly have moved it and there was no reason to suspect any of us of improper handling of the find.

An investigation would certainly have to be done. The root cellar would have to be opened properly and the remains examined to determine the cause of death. We had all had a quick peek inside before calling the police and had seen the large shelves that had fallen on the two figures. One of the boys was on top of the other and they were surrounded by the contents of the shelves, broken glass and heavy wooden boxes. We had also seen that they were not wearing their clothes, but the clothes were in a rather messy pile off to one side.

The police finished questioning us in the wee hours and told us we were free to go to bed if we wanted to, but they would be processing the scene in the basement for quite a few hours yet. Miss M. told them to feel free to search any part of the house they wanted, and was the first to head off to bed. They were done with their initial look through by noon the next day, but cordoned off the basement until the archaeological forensics team had had a chance to take a look.

The house was quiet for the next few days. Helmut grew agitated as his favorite playmates were not currently accessible, and no one seemed to see Emma since she had disappeared that night. I thought it was over and was relaxing into the deepening relationship with Ben, when Andi invited me to sit on the porch with her again early one evening. Like before she brought iced tea for both of us and used watching the sun set as the pretense for our conversation.

After some small talk, she began, “Has Ben felt the boys in the basement since that night?”

“I don't think so,” I answered. “He hasn't said anything if he has.”

“Oh, I think he would tell you,” she smiled.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just exploring a hunch.” She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. “I think they may still be here.”

My eyes got wide. “Have you felt their presence?”

“No,” she laughed. “I have never been able to feel their presence.”

“Then what makes you think they're still here? Did Helmut say something?”

She made a sour face and replied, “No, I've been avoiding him for the last few days, actually.”

“Yeah, me too. He turns into quite the old grouch when he ain't getting it as often as he would like.”

She chuckled, “I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed.”

“So why do you think the boys are still here?”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out something small and soft. “Because of these.”

She handed me a pair of small stuffed figures made from scraps of old cloth, twigs, and hair. I looked closely and recognized one of the fabrics as being identical to a shirt I had seen Markus wear in one of the visions. “Are these...? Where did you find them?”

“In the secret room. I pocketed them before the police arrived.”

“Are they what I think they are?”

“I believe so,” she answered. “It's the most basic of sympathetic magic, but quite effective when done right.”

“Are they...Does this mean they're trapped here? I thought that once the Mariah-harpy thing was gone they would be able to leave if they wanted to.”

“Perhaps they have left. No one has seen or heard anything from them since that night.” She paused to consider, “Or perhaps they are just resting after her long assault on them.”

“Her...Could you explain please?”

She smiled. “Of course. The work of a harpy is to deliver souls to eternal damnation. I believe she intended Sylas and Markus to be her first victims. But they had one defense that she could not penetrate. Their love for each other. That is why they became known for their constant fucking. By making love as much as possible they were able to keep her at a distance. Now that she is gone there is no longer any need for that to be quite so...constant.”

“Ahh, so that's why yo took Sammy and Jo Jo with you to the secret room. You already knew they were long-time lovers and used their love for each other as a shield.”

“You got it,” she smiled.

"But what were those little bags you and Sylvia produced when the boys started kissing?”

“You really did see it all, didn't you?” She pulled a small fabric bag up from inside her blouse. “I always wear it around my neck. It represents my late husband and I'll never stop loving him. It contains a lock of his hair and some of his ashes, as well as a few personal items which I don't think I need to tell you about. And if you want to know about Sylvia's, you'll have to ask her yourself. I'm not at liberty to share anything she told me in confidence.”

“No.” I reached over and squeezed her arm. “You don't need to tell me anything .” We sat in silence for a moment and sipped our teas.

“So did you know the harpy would take me like that?” I asked softly, not in an accusatory manner.

“We surrounded you with all the protections we could muster.”

“Not all,” I observed. “You didn't surround me with salt.”

She was silent for a moment. “Ahh, you noticed that.”

“I did.” I gave her a moment to explain and when she didn't I proposed my own theory. “I think you were counting on the harpy taking me. I think you needed the harpy out of the way so you could open the wall and expose the secret, thus destroying her. And that was only possible while she was carrying a soul to hell. I think the only thing you hadn't expected was finding Mariah still alive in the secret room. I think the distraction of having to hold her at bay kept you from helping dismantle the wall, so it took longer than you had planned on and thus you almost lost me.” I paused for a moment as we both sat facing the sunset. “That's what I think.”

After a long minute she said, “You know what I think? I think...I owe you an apology.” She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I should have told you everything. I should have let you make the decision. I should have trusted you. I'm just a foolish old woman who thinks she's smarter than everyone else, but I'm not. The guilt of almost losing you has been eating me up since that night. Can you ever forgive me?”

I waited a moment before answering. “I would have done it anyway, if nothing else, for the sake of saving Ben. Nothing would have been different if you had done all those things. I just would have been better informed. But answer me this. Can I trust you not to hide difficult truths from me in the future?”

“You have my word.” She reached over and took my hand. “On my husband's grave.”

This was clearly the most sacred thing she could think to swear on. I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it. “Then I forgive you.”

We returned our attention to the sunset for another minute or two before she jumped. “Oh, I almost forgot." She reached into another pocket and handed me the small object she pulled out. “I took this from the room as well. I think you should have it.” It was a small photograph of a man from the late nineteenth century. On the back it was inscribed, 'with all my love, Cid'.

I looked at it in disbelief. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the picture I had found at the ruins of the Hathaway. The backgrounds were identical. It appeared they went to the same photographer, perhaps at the same time to have these pictures made for each other. They had even been sure to face in opposite directions so they could be put in a double frame and be looking at each other. I showed this picture to Andi. “This was Markus.”

She looked at it and began to tear up. “They were both so handsome. Just like you and Ben.” Then handing the picture back to me she added, “What a tragedy.”

“Well, one good thing has come of this.” I offered as I took it. She looked at me inquiringly. “They won't be forgotten. I'll make sure of that.