Over the Hedge
16 December 2004"That was it, wasn't it?" I asked, looking at the newspaper sitting between me and Sergei. "I felt her attacking her father." "Could be," he replied. "Could well be." "How are you feeling?" Nan asked. "I had to lay down the rest of that day. It was too much. But I'm better now." She nodded. "Now, about these other beings you saw." "The ravens! Are you familiar with them?" "These are Odin's," Sergei offered. "Well," Nan said, giving him a side-eyed glance, "maybe. Their exact nature is less clear, but I did ask some spirits and one said that Huginn has a blue glow in all her forms, one prominent one being a raven." "And she travels with Muninn," he said, pointing at me. "Yes, yes. But we don't know if that was her, or Muninn, or what their actual relationship to Odin would be. Huginn and Muninn are hardly the only raven spirits in the world. Though if it was them, it's worth noting that the spirits I met with were very hesitant to invoke their names, or even vague titles, which is highly unusual." "Maybe it was them, though. What were they doing there? Why did they help me?" "It's hard to know if what they did really counts as 'helping,' but unless they show up again there's little point worrying about it. We should make a note of it and focus on what we've learned about Alethea." Nan sat down next to me and rested her hand on my knee. "I think we need to consider the possibility that she has become something more like a poltergeist." "No, no. She has to be someone we can still help!" "She's killing people, Jackie." "The abuser who killed her! I think that falls within what can be expected from a ghost." "What about the Mattesons?" "We don't know if she actually killed them, but even if she did, we don't know why. But we know she was scared and recently unbound and may not have been in her right state of mind at the time." "My concern is that we don't really know what the right state of mind for a fifty-year-old trauma ghost even is. And if she did kill them, your friend and anyone else who reminds her of him may be in trouble." I stood up and started pacing. "I can't. I can't just give up on her. I helped create this situation, don't you see? I have to try to make it right!" "Maybe making it right means facing her as an enemy instead of a lost soul." "Are you willing to assume that? To go after her like some terrible spirit instead of the victim of a terrible situation that she still hasn't escaped?" Nan took a deep breath and leaned on the counter. She looked down for a moment, then finally met my gaze. "All I'm saying is that we shouldn't rule it out. Just give me that much. For your safety." I rested my hands on my hips and stared off toward the drifting colors on the ceiling. Finally, I crossed my arms and looked at Nan and Sergei. "Fine. We'll consider it a possibility. But I'm not ready to give up on trying to save her." Nan nodded, then turned to the counter and patted the chair next to her. "Good. Now, let's work on some plans."
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
![]() Image courtesy of ummmmandy's picrew.
AuthorThe blog of Jackie Veracruz. Boost on TopWebFictionTall Tales: Volume Two now available
Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|
Story Blogs |
Resources |