It had been two and a half years since he’d graced me with his presence, and now he was here. In Seaport. Training a gun on me and my friends.
“I didn’t expect to see you in the target zone, Holly. We’re here tracking a dangerous spirit.” My dad’s face was as white as the snow cascading around us. “Reports said there were some rogue shamans in the area. Don’t tell me that’s you.”
“We’re not rogue shamans, Dad.” I lowered my hands, but the guns remained where they were. “Remember Jason here?”
Jason let out a nervous cough as the army—or whatever they were—shifted their attention his way.
“His mom got attacked by the spirit that’s inside his house,” I said. “We came here to banish it back to Lower World and make sure that no one else gets hurt. I don’t understand why you’re here now with some kind of SWAT team. I thought you were…”
Where have you been? Why did you leave me? Why didn’t you come back to help me when Mom got sick?
I didn’t voice any of my rampant thoughts. Instead, I just stared at the man who used to feel so familiar, but now only looked like a stranger. Someone from vague memories and dreams.
“Want to fly like Superman, Holly?”
I jumped up into his arms and squealed in delight. “Make me a superhero, Daddy!”
He spun me around and around until the world was just a blur far below.
Dad heaved out a heavy sigh and flicked his fingers at the five men behind him. “Lower your weapons. My daughter and her friends mean no harm. Get in formation around the house and ready to proceed toward the target.”
The men in dark armor lowered their weapons and strode toward the front of Jason’s house. They dropped to their knees and snapped glinting steel attachments onto the end of their guns. Items I couldn’t recognize in the darkness. Whatever they were, I didn’t understand how rifles were the appropriate weapon for banishing a spirit. Guns don’t work on the supernatural. Surely Dad would know something as basic as that.
When I turned back to my dad, he was standing just before me, his arms lowered to his sides, his face drawn. He looked both different and the same. More lines carved around his eyes, and the prickly hair on his face was thicker and paler, like a bristle brush that had been left out in the sun to fade. Tanned skin covered his cheeks like leather, matching the color of his hands.
“Dad. You have to tell me what’s going on. Where have you been? Who are these people?” My voice shook, expelling the emotion that was building up inside me like a dam ready to burst.
“That spirit in there isn’t what you think.” He glanced at Laura and Jason, who were standing uneasily off the the side, shivering against the snowy wind. “We’ve picked up some abnormalities in the veil between our world and the Borderland and traced it back to here. Dangerous abnormalities. The spirit must be destroyed, do you understand?”
“Destroyed?” Frowning, my gaze found the armored men gathering in a triangular formation around the rattling front door. Their eyes were trained on my father as if they waited for his command. “What do you mean? Aren’t you going to banish it back to Lower World?”
Dad took my chin in his hand. His skin was rough and warm, and he forced me to look squarely into his pinched eyes. I remembered that look. It was the expression he used to get when I really amped up his frustration level. It was the same look he’d had the day my mom told him to put a stop to his thieving ways. And it was the last look he gave our house when he took off from Seaport never to return. Until now.
“This is information you absolutely cannot share,” he said, voice low. “Do you understand me, Holly Bennett?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“The spirit is impervious to our powers. Not even the strongest protection spell can keep it out. It attacks whenever it pleases, and it cannot be banished back to Lower World. The only solution is
“I didn’t expect to see you in the target zone, Holly. We’re here tracking a dangerous spirit.” My dad’s face was as white as the snow cascading around us. “Reports said there were some rogue shamans in the area. Don’t tell me that’s you.”
“We’re not rogue shamans, Dad.” I lowered my hands, but the guns remained where they were. “Remember Jason here?”
Jason let out a nervous cough as the army—or whatever they were—shifted their attention his way.
“His mom got attacked by the spirit that’s inside his house,” I said. “We came here to banish it back to Lower World and make sure that no one else gets hurt. I don’t understand why you’re here now with some kind of SWAT team. I thought you were…”
Where have you been? Why did you leave me? Why didn’t you come back to help me when Mom got sick?
I didn’t voice any of my rampant thoughts. Instead, I just stared at the man who used to feel so familiar, but now only looked like a stranger. Someone from vague memories and dreams.
“Want to fly like Superman, Holly?”
I jumped up into his arms and squealed in delight. “Make me a superhero, Daddy!”
He spun me around and around until the world was just a blur far below.
Dad heaved out a heavy sigh and flicked his fingers at the five men behind him. “Lower your weapons. My daughter and her friends mean no harm. Get in formation around the house and ready to proceed toward the target.”
The men in dark armor lowered their weapons and strode toward the front of Jason’s house. They dropped to their knees and snapped glinting steel attachments onto the end of their guns. Items I couldn’t recognize in the darkness. Whatever they were, I didn’t understand how rifles were the appropriate weapon for banishing a spirit. Guns don’t work on the supernatural. Surely Dad would know something as basic as that.
When I turned back to my dad, he was standing just before me, his arms lowered to his sides, his face drawn. He looked both different and the same. More lines carved around his eyes, and the prickly hair on his face was thicker and paler, like a bristle brush that had been left out in the sun to fade. Tanned skin covered his cheeks like leather, matching the color of his hands.
“Dad. You have to tell me what’s going on. Where have you been? Who are these people?” My voice shook, expelling the emotion that was building up inside me like a dam ready to burst.
“That spirit in there isn’t what you think.” He glanced at Laura and Jason, who were standing uneasily off the the side, shivering against the snowy wind. “We’ve picked up some abnormalities in the veil between our world and the Borderland and traced it back to here. Dangerous abnormalities. The spirit must be destroyed, do you understand?”
“Destroyed?” Frowning, my gaze found the armored men gathering in a triangular formation around the rattling front door. Their eyes were trained on my father as if they waited for his command. “What do you mean? Aren’t you going to banish it back to Lower World?”
Dad took my chin in his hand. His skin was rough and warm, and he forced me to look squarely into his pinched eyes. I remembered that look. It was the expression he used to get when I really amped up his frustration level. It was the same look he’d had the day my mom told him to put a stop to his thieving ways. And it was the last look he gave our house when he took off from Seaport never to return. Until now.
“This is information you absolutely cannot share,” he said, voice low. “Do you understand me, Holly Bennett?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“The spirit is impervious to our powers. Not even the strongest protection spell can keep it out. It attacks whenever it pleases, and it cannot be banished back to Lower World. The only solution is
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