Relics (10 page)

In the kitchen, after a very late dinner – Chinese takeout – we went back to the cases at hand. I hadn't expected Jones to be so cooperative. With his revelations, we hadn't resolved everything for our clients, but we were farther than we would have been.

I began one of my lists on my tablet. This time just the names of our clients and what they wanted. When I was done, I looked it over before I handed it to Thulu.

Jones would be able to clear up almost everything on the list. He had Jenna's parents and the panel Seung wanted. He had access to Jane's locket and knew where the original Jones had put Emily's body.

The other two were not as clear cut. Robin wanted to make things right with his family, which was a bit vague. Blake said he just wanted to hang out awhile.

It was always a bit harder when the dead didn't know what they wanted or needed in order to move on. We'd discovered that the best thing was to let them do as they pleased and not push for a solution. Eventually, they moved on. Or not, as the mood struck them.

Of course, that was for the more recently dead. Those who'd been dead longer rarely came to visit, although occasionally one stopped by out of curiosity.

Then there was Parker, who was more like a member of the family. I was unable to have kids of my own. A rare condition had resulted in my having a hysterectomy the year before. Thulu and I had decided we'd look into adoption when we were ready to extend our clan. We discussed it every so often to make sure we were both on the same page as far as kids were concerned. So far neither of us had been in any hurry to change the size of our family.

Once in a while, I saw a young woman really connected to a child or baby and I missed not having one of my own. These times were not often, though, and usually didn't last long. I was pretty happy with our life as it was. I worked really hard to convince myself that I didn't care about kids. That wasn’t something I was willing to look at very closely, either. Denial is not always a bad thing, I told myself.

Parker, however, brought out my maternal instincts. Having been an only child, I enjoyed my older sister role.

He must have felt me thinking about him because I heard his familiar, “Knock, knock.”

“Come in.”

In he came, with Jenna in tow.

“Hi, La Fi. Hey Thulu.” The scents of cinnamon (Jenna) and popcorn (Parker) slipped into the room.

Jenna put herself in mid-air, something that was becoming a pattern for her. She curled up on her side and stuck her thumb in her mouth. I frowned. Wasn't she a bit old for that?  Was she developing issues?  Could ghost kids even develop issues?  She saw my look, removed her thumb and smiled that heavenly smile of hers. With a tiny sigh, she cuddled her monkey, carefully keeping her thumb out of her mouth. I'm quite sure the look she gave me was slyly mischievous.

Parker looked at the remains of our dinner still scattered on the table and got a wistful expression.

“I always liked Chinese.” He gave us a big grin, his usual good nature returning quickly. From what I’d seen, Parker rarely was upset or down. He just seemed to go with the flow.

“So what's up?  How did the meeting go?” He gestured with his head at Jenna. “Find out anything?”

Thulu gave me a quick look.

“We found out some things, yes.” I answered cautiously. I thought of something I'd wanted to ask him. “Hey, Parker, can you see demons and angels?”

“They'd rather be called “daemons,’” he corrected.

That answered that. Not even Parker was going to let me get away with my name game. “Daemons” it would have to be. I frowned slightly. Thulu gave a quiet chuckle, guessing what had gone through my mind.

“There are times a person can know someone too well, you know?” I glared at him. This, of course, just made him laugh.

“Never going to know you too well, my Fi.” He reached over and ruffled the top of my head. I pulled away in mock irritation.

Parker interrupted us. “Are you guys going to get all personal and mushy and stuff?  Or do you want to know about daemons and angels?”

We both laughed at the look of disgust on his face, even though I was pretty sure Thulu missed most of what Parker had said.

“No, Park, we aren't. By all means, enlighten us,” I said firmly.

Thulu waggled his eyebrows at me and mouthed, “Rematch.” I rolled my eyes. I turned my back on Thulu and looked at Parker.  “Please go on, sweetie.”

After a suspicious look at both of us, Parker went on. It wasn't the first time that particular scene had been played out with the three of us. He made sure he was facing Thulu so he could read his lips.

“There aren't all that many that I've seen. Mostly they don't much pay attention to us ghosts. There are more daemons than angels. In fact, I've only seen maybe three or four angels.” He hesitated and the silence grew.

“Parker?”

“You might not believe me, or you might think I'm a bad person.”

“Nope, Park, not happening.” I shook my head and looked him straight in his not quite solid brown eyes. “Please tell us whatever you know.”

He took a deep breath. I always find that ironic in those who do not breathe.

“I don't like them.”

I nodded. “The daemons?”

“Nah, they're all right, for the most part. I don't like the angels.” He hung his head, seeming to find something interesting in the kitchen tile. Guilt was in his whole manner.

Thulu and I exchanged looks. Not what we had expected.

“Parker?” Thulu waited until Parker looked at him. “Why don't you like them?”

“Because they are
creepy
!” he exclaimed, a bit defensively, but also with an almost defiant look. His dislike of them was quite strong, very different for easy-going Parker. He seemed concerned we would think the worst of him, but at the same time wanted us to know how he felt.

I couldn't remember the last time Parker had been so negative about something. “They don't like us dead much at all. That's okay, though. We don't like them back. They act like they're better than everyone else, just 'cause they're pretty.”  A look of horror appeared on his face as something occurred to him. “You aren't going to work for any of them, are you?”

“Would that be bad?” I asked.

“Yes!” He was almost bouncing in mid-air, and his scent changed from popcorn to gasoline.

“It's okay, Parker. Will you please tell us what's going on?”

“Yeah, sorry guys.” His scent went to peanut butter, one of his more common ones, as he settled down. Only one of the ones I saw was nice. He smiled at me and even talked to me a bit. The others though – La Fi, Thulu, I'm not kidding. These dudes are seriously
not
the good guys.” He moved closer and lowered his voice, as if he thought the angels were listening in. “They hang around people like –” He stopped again, thinking. “Okay, you know how it feels when something smells really, really good?”

We nodded.

“It kind of looks like that. Like they are smelling something they really like – only more than that. Like they are inhaling the person. It's just weird looking.”

“Daemons don't do that?” Thulu asked.

“Yeah, they kind of do, but they are not as obvious about it. Whenever I've seen a daemon following someone, it was more like they were taking little sips and not for long. They aren't as gross as those angel things.” He made a disgusted face.

“But daemons are kind of cool. And they look at us sometimes. I've even talked to a few of them. One of them sat on the pier with me one day, and we talked about gaming for hours. He wanted to know what was so cool about it and why some humans spent so much time playing. How it worked – and he really listened to me, too.”

“When was this?”

“Not long after I died.” Parker smiled. “He was pretty awesome. Well, once I realized he wasn't there to take me to Hell anyway.” He gave us a grin. “He was in his daemon form and not possessing a human at the time. They do that – possess humans. He was all dark and had wings and bright blue eyes. It was pretty cool.” 

“Don't angels have wings?” I wondered.

“Yeah, they do. Look, guys, don't get me wrong. They are really pretty. Stunning the first time you see them. They are bright, and their skin glows. They sometimes have this sparkly aura around them and huge wings the color of their hair.” His eyes clouded as he remembered.

“The first one I saw was a few weeks after I met the daemon. His hair and wings were all silver. Even his skin was a bit silver. The feathers on his wings looked soft. He was so beautiful, I wondered if he was there to take me to Heaven.” Parker seemed a bit embarrassed. We nodded again and smiled.

“I'm sure I would have thought the same thing,” Thulu said.

“Well, I didn't even think about it. I just went up to him and asked if he was there to take me away. He just glared at me, really mean, too.  He said, 'Be gone, dead thing.'  He made a pushing motion with his hand, and I ended up clear across the city.” Parker shook his head in disgust.

“One of the old timer ghosts said to stay away from angels. He said they were bad news and only a few would be nice, but it was best to not bother looking for the nice ones. I thought that was good advice. Now, I leave the area if I see them first.”

“What about the nice one?”

“Oh, him. I was in Chinatown looking around at stuff one day. I turned a corner and went right through him before I saw him. He felt weird, too. I turned around to apologize before he did something awful, but he just smiled and nodded.”

This angel had been very friendly, according to Parker. His hair and wings had been gold, with a golden aura blazing from his skin. He told Parker he was looking for an antique shop that specialized in Oriental items.

Thulu and I exchanged a swift glance before we focused back on Parker and his story.

Parker said there were quite a few in the area, and the angel asked if Parker minded showing him where they were. When they got to each shop, the angel shook his head and said it wasn't the right one. He didn't even go in.

At one shop, the angel seemed really pleased and excited. He thanked Parker, saying, “I hope you find the Light, little dead human.” Parker thought it was a bit strange, but he thanked the angel and moved across the street to watch from a safe distance.

The angel transformed his appearance into that of an old Asian woman and shuffled into the store. He was only in there a few minutes before he returned and assumed his angelic form. Even from a distance, Parker could see he was really furious, so Parker left the area immediately. Whatever made that angel mad, he didn't want to be anywhere around him.

“When was this?”

“A few months ago?  Maybe two?  Three?” He thought for a moment, before he shook his head. Most ghosts had a poor sense of time. It just didn't have the same meaning for them that it did for us. “Sorry, that's the best I can do. There wasn't anything special going on, so I don't have a time reference.”

“No worries, Parker, that's close enough. And thanks. You've been a big help,” Thulu said reassuringly.

“So, you aren't going to work for the angels, are you?” He was frowning in concern and a touch of fear.

Thulu and I stared at each other. We didn't really read each other's minds, but we could usually tell which direction the other was going, in a general way, if not specifics.

“No, Parker, I don't think we are. We haven't even seen one.” Thulu's voice was soothing.

Parker gave a huge sigh of relief that was almost comical, but neither of us dared to laugh or even smile. “Be very glad you haven't.”