Victoria’s missive, delivered via Goose, arrived before I’d had a chance to eat breakfast, partake in a cup of much needed caffeine, or have the discussion Paine attempted to instigate once he was clothed and appeared from the bedroom. Victoria wanted the job done, and she wanted it done now. The house she wanted me to exorcise wasn’t a house at all, but a large duplex. To my shock, I learned the place once belonged to Joseph—the very vampire responsible for killing Disco.
Bells handed me a large bag, forcing me to bite back my anger and resentment, along with a small pet carrier containing a sacrificial zombie cat. I tried not to look at the poor thing, knowing the fate that awaited it. Goose assured me that the animal was no longer fully aware or cognizant of what was taking place, but it didn’t make my guilt any less.
“Everything you need is inside.”
I nodded and took the bag and cage. Fortunately, Goose had managed to train me during my downtime, so I knew what I needed to do. Sacrament myself with the holy oil, create a circle of salt and blood, prowl the premises and provoke the beast and, God willing, place my sorry ass safely inside the sanctity of the area when the shit hit the fan. Mixing the blood with the salt created my own place in the residence—a space the entity could not enter. The confines would be the only area where I would be able to keep the fucking thing from touching me. Once there, the undead cat would become the host for the angry pestilence, something I had to destroy to officially end the spirit’s lease on the building.
Goose stepped forward. “If you can’t do it, wait the poltergeist out in the circle. It could be hours, but whatever you do, don’t step out of the circle.”
I cracked my neck and nodded. “No problem.”
Hiking the bag over my shoulder, I glanced at Jennifer. If she was nervous, I couldn’t tell. I took the key Goose extended to me, examined it, and braced myself to enter the duplex. As I drew a deep breath to steady my nerves, I unlocked the door and stepped inside. To my surprise, the entire interior of the building had been gutted and the premises very much resembled a house. There was a foyer, with a living room just beyond. I’d already been given a rough breakdown of the layout. All of the bedrooms were upstairs, with the kitchen, living room and den situated on the lower floor.
The moment I stepped past the threshold, I felt the presence of the entity, and it was staggering. Whatever remained behind in this place was something that had left traces of itself everywhere. Jennifer growled as she followed me into the large room just ahead, and when I turned to her, I noticed her dark brown eyes had taken on an amber glow.
“You feel it too?”
“I feel it.” Her voice had changed as well, becoming gruff.
Goose had instructed me to create the circle in the center of the structure, meaning the living room directly ahead. As I walked into the area, I could see where he’d attempted to do the job himself. Furniture was broken and a circle of salt was spread along the dark carpet. It wasn’t those things, however, that snagged my attention. It was the residuals of the people from the past that stopped me dead in my tracks.
Apparently I was capable of seeing the twice-dead trapped in time. Some were vampires I recognized, while others were ones I’d never been introduced to. A few lounged on the couch, while a couple vanished into the den. The undeniable pull that always came during these situations lured me toward the stairs, in the direction of the staircase—to the bedrooms.
Shaking aside the temptation, I walked into the area I wanted to block off and Jennifer dutifully did as instructed after I told her to stand in the center. When she was in place, I rummaged through the bag and removed the container of salt.
“Ter inter orbis, reus subsido totus, malum pessum.” Thrice around the circles bound sink all evil to the ground.