CORY

The taping on Saturday afternoon and night went fantastic, full of all the fun parts of having a ghost show … boos and bouncing lights Gemma likes to call anomalies and bumps in the night. When it was over, she was totally burned out. Four in the morning and I told her to go on to bed, I’d wrap up. As I packed the equipment under the bright overhead light, I felt something like an icy breath drift across my chest then dissipate toward the wall of French doors.

Okay, being rational, I convinced myself … it was a strong breeze outside … that blew in through the windowpanes … bounced off the wall … then slid past me on its way back out. Seemed like a good enough explanation to me. Right?

“Wrong,” a voice rumbled.

Gulp. “Uh, hello?” My head swung left then right then the fucking overhead flickered out and I was in the dark.

“Yeah,” the voice was right in front of me.

“Okay, okay, now … uh … who are you?”

“Who the fuck do you think I am, Cory? Jesus, you bring that old bat up here and waste half the night before sending her away. What the hell do you think you’re doing anyway?”

And I couldn’t help but smile. There he was; his shape and form getting more and more solid as I watched. I thumped down on my ass, rubbed my eyes and chuckled. “Granddad?” He looked younger than I remembered but exactly like I expected.

“Who the hell else is gonna wait ‘til fucking four in the goddamn morning to talk with you? Yeah, it’s me.”

Suddenly I smelled something like outside and mud and dried leaves, I felt heat at my shoulder like someone or something was breathing down my neck and I shuddered, terrified to turn and look. “What the fuck is that?”

“Leave him be,” Granddad grunted and the heat moved away. “Nothin’ just the damn bear. Now tell me Cory, what the hell are you doing here?”

I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to look real cool. “Uh … here? Oh, it’s what I do. I’m the producer of a television show about haunted inns.”

“But, what are you doing here? At this Inn?” Big Bad Ass Bud asked.

“Well, um … I came to find you. I … ah …” I shrugged. “I kinda miss you, Granddad.”

His face didn’t soften, his eyes narrowed critically. “Yeah, well I think a lot about all the shit I missed while you grew up. If I was around, you sure as fuck wouldn’t have that Nancy hair. You’d be using a grown up man’s name by now too. Shit,” he stood and paced. “All that aside, I’m kinda glad you did come. See, Cory … some kinda bad shit is starting to hit the fan … and … I think I need you to help take care of the guys.”

I sat straight, watching him walk back and forth. “You can count on me. Whatever you need.”

Granddad Bud sat on the built in bench and rubbed his eyes. “Okay … now, we got a lot to talk about.”

MAXIMUS

The Easter feast was delightful, a true gathering of family over food and fine wines. But soon enough the meal had ended and I watched them all drift from the apartment. Sophia had returned to our suite and finally, Riley kissed my cheek and said her goodnights. She gathered her sleeping son from John’s arms and retired behind the closed door.

Alone with John I watched him carefully. All day he had been slightly on guard and nervous. The way his eyes often took in everything around him, sought Riley and his child, even the way he often sighed told me all I needed to know. Always a man to appreciate his family and blessings from the gods, John was even more aware, more alert and more concerned that I had ever seen him. He too had experienced the same kind of vision I had. I knew instinctively and wasted no time approaching the subject.

“John, mine took place in the bowels of the coliseum. May I ask of your vision?”

He blinked, groaned and pushed his hair back. Shaking his head he finally turned tearful eyes to me. “This ain’t good. You know, if it was just me, I’d figure I just needed a vacation, ay? But you too? Fuck, Max. Something’s up, isn’t it?”

I sipped brandy and nodded agreement. “I suggest we get the men together for a meeting … Tuesday afternoon … and we will all discuss this. Not the women, we shall not concern them until we understand what is happening. And John, what do you think of young Cory White?” The man had impressed me with his courage to come and share and celebrate with a family he had never known before. A family he clearly understood was … different.

“Cory’s okay,” John grunted. “Maybe there’s no point in including him. Maybe it’s got nothing to do with him.”

“Or perhaps … it has everything to do with him. I think he should be included, John.”

John stood, leaned against the window sill and gazed out into the darkness. “This might really suck, ya know.”

I set a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, I know.”

TERRY

The absolute bloody last place I wanted to be was Vermont. Dino drove me to the Inn and right past my fucking house, the For Sale/Sold sign blazing red and white. Ah well, what did I expect anyway? I’d told my mate I’d taken a pain pill and he probably thought I was taking a kip. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

The pain pills didn’t work because the real pain wasn’t in my bloody destroyed hand. It was deep in my chest, deeper than my heart. It seemed to be the year to lose everything and I was the winner then. Lost it all before spring. Lost my marriage, my ability to hold a fucking gun. Hell, soon I’ll lose my business and self respect and what the fuck is left after that?

I did manage to dress and go to the Biebe’s apartment for the Easter meal. Dinner was lovely as usual but I made my way out and back to my own room early. Who was gonna deny an injured bloke his bed, right? But more then twice, Riley showed up at my door, bringing fresh coffee, a plate of cake, a smile. I leaned against the doorjamb.

“Love, I appreciate your efforts, but … this isn’t gonna right itself quickly.”

“Might not right itself in a whole lifetime,” she said softly. “But ‘right’ is all in the eyes of the beholder. Terry, you are and have always been perfect. It’ll just take a little time bringing the new level of perfection to the surface. We’re all here to help.”

I leaned down and kissed her brow. “Always been grateful for what you see through those pretty brown eyes, love … distorted as it all is.”

I finally got her to go back to her guests but I wasn’t alone. Not by a long shot. I’ve always ignored Brian, my imaginary mate who only appears there at the Inn. He’s not real, even though I’ve given him the form of an old, dear and very dead friend.

“Like hell I’m not real,” the ghost grunted and I reached for the tellie remote. Bloody thing wouldn’t work. “You’ll get over this, Terry. Don’t fight getting stronger and for Christ’s sake, don’t fight the people trying to help you. Oh, by the way, you need to be at a meeting Maximus is having for the family men Tuesday afternoon.”

Maximus hadn’t mentioned anything to me about a meeting, and I had no bloody intention of attending one even if he had.

Brian snorted. “He’s going to make the decision in a few hours. John will slide a note under your fucking door … and oh hell yeah, you’re going. That vision you had Terry? The one on the hill in Tacala? Well, you ain’t the only one getting scary flashbacks. You guys gotta figure this out or something real ugly might be coming down. Now …”

I blinked and I watched the full glass of water and prescription bottle slowly slide closer to my fingers on the bed table.

“Take your damn pills and get some sleep, Terry. This family is going to need you tomorrow. And … hey … hey … don’t even go there!”

Bloody hell! The fucking imaginary ghost knew where my head was going! To that place of denial and refusal, the place of taking myself so low I truly believed I could be of no help to anyone?

“Yeah,” Brian sighed. “That place. Not a real good look for you, buddy. Sleep well.”

KIM

To be honest, I never gave too much thought to what might have been if I had stayed back on my side of the portal. It’s not like I had crossed through from the bloody nineteenth century or perhaps two thousand years earlier, you know?  I’ve often wondered how some of these older brothers had handled the complete culture shock in the beginning, but maybe all the available women waiting for us on the other side had something to do with softening the blow. It’s funny, ‘cause when I think of those days when we all first started crossing over, it’s almost all a blur in a way. We all had our adventures and our favorites, but to be honest, after some of the others began pairing off, daring to live life over here on their own terms, I think that’s when I realized that it was time to crack down and start dealing with my own new reality in the same manner.

John was waiting for me when I arrived into work this morning. Apparently he’d caught wind of the fact that I’ve been coming in early, and at first I was worried that there was yet another problem with the carpenters, but he waved his hand as if brushing that particular annoyance away to make room for the bombshell he was about to drop.

“We’re having a meeting tomorrow afternoon that involves all of us.”

I just looked at him, not expecting to hear the tone of worry in his voice or the cautious expression in his eyes. “Uh, sure, John, um, is everything okay?”

He looked away for a moment, as if considering the best way to answer. “Kim, has anything unusual happened to you over the past few days?”

“You mean besides the attack of the killer Peeps?” When he didn’t smile, I knew his question was a serious one. “Um, not really. Should there be something in particular I need to be watching for?” I had no clue where this conversation was headed, but his next words brought it all home with disturbing clarification.

“A few of us … Maximus, Curry, myself included, have been pulled back to where we were right before we crossed over. It only lasted a moment, but it was real. We somehow got … pulled back.” He seemed to need to catch his breath, and his next words chilled me. “I saw my son.”

“Does that maybe mean…?” I couldn’t finish. Bloody hell, that must have been a horrible shock for John. Why would this sort of thing happen now? And how?

John read my expression. “Something’s happenin’. Something bad. We need to get all the men together and hash this thing out and try to come up with some answers.”

“Does Riley…”

“No, she doesn’t know. And I don’t want her to. None of the women know. Yet.”

Right. No need in alarming the spouses until we knew more of what was going down. This could have horrifying consequences, not just for the men who had families, but for those of us who absolutely no reason to want to go back. I felt my stomach tighten as I considered what I’d be leaving behind. Six months ago I might not have cared one way or the other, but now …I glanced over at Emily’s empty desk and my stomach gripped tighter. Bloody hell, no.

Emily arrived a few minutes after John and I were finished, and if she noticed me watching her a little more closely than usual, she didn’t let on.

“Good morning! Good Morning!” Her voice was all happy and sing-songy, and she reminded me a little of Debbie Reynolds in Singing in the Rain. “Hey, are you getting enough sleep? You look pale.” She scooted out of her coat and started to remove her boots. “Don’t tell me – the carpenters are pulling that union guidelines about overtime BS again.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” I wished it were. That I could handle.

“Then what? Chris isn’t still after you about the peeps, is he? I thought we got that all straightened out.”

I sidestepped her question all together. “I have to leave early tomorrow afternoon, and I’m putting you in charge.”

This last announcement surprised her so much that she lost her grip on her boot as she was tugging it off her foot and it flung across the office and smashed against the side of my desk. I noticed that she was wearing red and white striped socks; normally I would have teased her about this, but I just didn’t have the heart or the energy. My stomach knotted even tighter.

“You can handle it, Em. I trust you.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she got up to retrieve her boot. “Who are you, and what did you do with Kim Barrett?”

I know she was kidding, but I prayed her words would never come to pass, for any of us. 

JEFF

I’m accustomed to being the man who has access to the answers, of being the one that others can come to when they need a dose of calm rational reasoning. I try to face every new problem from a scientific standpoint and this sense of order has held me in good stead. I can by nature be volatile on occasion, but only when provoked or pushed beyond my limits.

I’ve never regretted my crossing over into this plane of existence. My prior life had been a series of chaotic events from the various legal battles, the resultant dissolution of my marriage, and worst of all, the separation and alienation from my daughters. To be truthful, I welcomed the diversion of life at the temple, for a time. While all of our fates  could be attributed to an act of sorcery or more pragmatically as a simple act of quantum physics, I wasn’t worried so much about where I had come from as I was concerned as to where I would be heading.

 I’ve embraced my life here, even though I hardly had been given the choice to do anything else. There's a certain freedom that comes with the opportunity to start over, and I welcomed the challenge. I was fortunate in that I’d quickly found my niche, which hadn’t been too far from the comfort zone of what I had accomplished in my other life. I taught, did the lecture circuit, fell in love a couple of times, but even after I’d made a success of my life, I felt the draw to return back to Vermont and be near the closest thing to a biological family that I would ever have. I’ve been very content here and with Kelly at my side throughout it all, I honestly have no complaints.

I like to joke that science has all the answers, but after yesterday morning, I’m no longer certain. What I faced could have far reaching consequences, where the lines between the tangible and fantastic become irrevocably blurred.

It all started early Monday morning, just as I had finished shaving. Kelly was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and I was about to slough off my bathrobe and head into the shower, same as I do every morning. But as I leaned in to adjust the temperature, I was overcome by a sudden powerful wave of dizziness. Grabbing onto the shower door, I felt myself being physically pulled through what felt like a tight chamber, and the next thing I knew, I was back in my apartment in Kentucky, along with my daughters Barbara and Deborah. They were sitting on the couch eating dinner and I was standing in the doorway of that led into that tiny kitchen, my attention pulled towards the television to watch Mike Wallace retracting 60 Minutes’ earlier broadcast of my story. My daughters were eating happily, their eyes looking towards mine with love and acceptance.

I felt and sensed everything, from the smell of spaghetti sauce in the kitchen to the clinking of my daughter’s forks against their dishes. The feel of my favorite old sweatshirt was comfortable and familiar against my skin and I could hear the sound of an ambulance siren off somewhere in the distance.

Then, as suddenly as it started, I was standing back in the bathroom, my hand still gripping the shower door as the sense of dizziness dissipated.

Holy mother of God, what had just happened? I lunged for the bathroom door and in a panic threw it open to find Kelly still in the kitchen fixing coffee. She glanced up and smiled, unaware of what I had just experienced.

“Just a couple of more minutes, babe. Do you want me just to reach in and set it on the counter for you?” It took me a moment to realize that she was referring to a cup of coffee, but I simply nodded and ducked back into the bathroom, my back pressed up against the door for support as I fought what had felt like yet another pulling sensation. Then as quickly as it came on, it vanished. I was still in the bathroom, the air was thick with steam, and my legs felt as if they were about to give way beneath me.

Needless to say, I didn’t mention any of this to Kelly. She has no idea about the truth of my existence, and trying to get her to understand and accept that in itself would require a monumental leap of faith and a healthy stretch of imagination. I wouldn’t have told anyone about the experience at all, not right away, but Biebe had contacted me later that evening and after telling me of his own similar experience. He indicated that my presence at the Inn tomorrow was necessary; he was contacting and pulling the various brothers together in order for us to try and figure out what the hell was happening.

I find myself at a loss for any kind of explanation other than the unthinkable. Is it all happening again, only this time in reverse?

God help us all.

JACK

It had become my habit to take an afternoon stroll with the girls. At first, it was solely to give my dear wife some time to herself without the heavy responsibility of motherhood. But, in the months since their birth, it has become a cherished activity. I had not the chance to spend much time with my other children, and now in his life, I relish the strolls we take together.

This afternoon during our walk, I spied Maximus sitting on the bench near the Bear’s grave. His eyes were closed and his face turned toward the sun as if in deep thought. He heard our approach and greeted us, reaching to take Catherine from my hold and sit her on his knee. I sat next to him and held Chelsea, squirming in her tight, warm bindings. My heart was heavy, wondering if I should tell him of my disturbing experience. Finally, I decided to go straight at ‘em, as Nelson had always advised.

He sat quietly and listened as I recounted my vision and was particularly interested that Stephen had also shared this experience with me; even though he is far to the south in Maryland.

I was surprised and gratified that ours was not the only vision that had occurred. Maximus also had his own experience and he informed me of the meeting to be held the next afternoon. It was obvious to us both that something ominous was looming on our horizon. My fear is that I will be taken from my loved ones in this life, just as I had before, and will be forced to begin again. This is something that I feel I cannot allow, cannot tolerate. It must not and will not be.

DAISY

I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when Cory asked me to come here. Don’t get me wrong; I love the fact that he wanted me around. But, we’ve always been the independent sort: close when we were together but we had our own lives to lead. I kinda like this protective-semi-possessive lover.

And then he hit me with another big surprise, a new set of hair clippers. The best ones he could find. Of course, there was a catch. There’s always a catch, isn’t there? In this case, he wanted me to cut off all his hair. At first, I refused. I mean, come on. That was one of the best styles I’ve ever done and back in LA, everyone comments whenever they see his pictures in my book. Everyone wants hair like Cory.

But, I guess it’s time for something different. So I did it. Buzzed all his beautiful hair off and gave him a short flat-top. Boy, did he look different. Better. Without the distraction of his hairstyle, his blue-green eyes nearly jumped out of his face. Intense. His cheekbones were more pronounced. His shoulders larger, stronger. A force to be reckoned with. Yeah, I’d do him. But, of course. I already had. Heh.

JOHN

Tuesday afternoon. It was all set up; none of the women knew what’s going on. It was fun, sending all the girls to Manhattan for a day of shopping and spa luxury. Cost a pretty penny but not one of them bothered to ask what we’d all be up to while they’re out of town. Maybe it was crafty. Maybe it was smart. Knowing me, it’ll probably backfire but for now, it was perfect.

Terry was the first to arrive and I made him comfortable. I ignored the massive bandage over his hand, the sling holding his arm, even the paleness of his face. We avoided the subject of weird visions and talked local breweries.

Within minutes they were crowded in my living room and Maximus was pouring himself a glass of brandy. Finally the last knock on my door and I tugged it opened for Cory. The kid walked in and every mouth dropped to the floor. If any of us doubted that Bud White’s blood was in that kid, we couldn’t deny it anymore. With that buzz cut, there was no more guessing. Cory grabbed a beer and stood toward the back of the room.