Read Online Apparition (The Hungry Ghosts) by Trish J. MacGregor - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Trish J. MacGregor
Ads: Link
at it.
“You a shifter?” he called. “Is that what this is about?”
The parrot circled down toward him and landed on his nonexistent shoulder, cooing softly. No shifter, he thought. He realized this bird was Kali, the parrot that had lived so many years in the lobby of the Posada de Esperanza, the inn where Tess and Ian first stayed as transitional souls. Back then, Kali occupied a perch in the large front bay window in the lobby and he always had thought she was a spirit, not an actual living parrot. Now he suspected she was both, one of those birds, like an owl, a raven, or a crow, that traversed dimensions.
As Charlie approached Wayra and Illary’s place in Mariposa, Kali flew off and settled on the fence. Charlie thought himself through the front door and into the spacious living room. Tastefully decorated in browns and soft pastels, the room boasted an amazing collection of original art—Picasso, van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, O’Keeffe, and the Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín.
The living room was deserted. Wayra, Tess, and Ian sat at a table on the screened porch, and before Charlie joined them, he assumed his virtual form as Manuel Ortega, a Quechua—short, slender stature, dark hair and eyes, a c olorful blanket wrapped around his shoulders, jeans and a sweater and boots. He slid the door open and walked out onto the deck.
“Sorry to intrude,” he said. “I’m glad all of you are okay. How’s Sanchez doing?”
“The guy with the answers,” Wayra said. “Good to see you, Charlie. And Sanchez is sleeping comfortably.”
“We were just talking about you,” Tess said, and got up and hugged him hello.
In Charlie’s virtual form, physical contact felt real and always made him miss his actual former life as Charlie Livingston.
“You haven’t been around for months,” Ian remarked.
“Months? Really? It’s been that long?” Charlie pulled out a chair and sat down. “I apologize. I guess I’ve been preoccupied. So is it true? Dominica has a brother?”
Wayra nodded and explained the specifics. “I don’t have any idea where he has been all these centuries, but he’s definitely here now.”
“And he had a message for you, Dad” Tess said.
“Yeah, I heard. I talked to Lauren earlier. Wayra, may I see this stone that sent Sanchez into convulsions?”
“Sure.” He slipped it from his jacket pocket, set it in the middle of the table, and got up and turned on a floor lamp. “Illary spotted it near a vanished area at the bottom of the hill where the café sits. It was glowing, so I picked it up.”
Oracle. Sipapu. A Hopi word, meaning “an opening in the earth.” What the hell did that even mean? Charlie wondered, and picked up the stone.
It was smooth and dark, about three inches long and half as wide. As he pressed it between his hands, the smoothness abruptly changed. He could feel grooves, bumps, protrusions, and its texture was like sandpaper. He held it up to the light and was surprised to see that the surface was now inscribed with symbols.
“Do any of you recognize these symbols?” he asked, and held out his hand, the stone in the center of it.
The others leaned forward for a look. “It was smooth before,” Tess exclaimed.
“It’s as if the heat of your hands released those marks,” Ian said.
Wayra nodded. “Interesting. The stone was found by a shape shifter and a chaser’s virtual hands released the stone’s secrets.”
“May I have a look?”
They all glanced back at Sanchez, who stood in the open doorway in a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt, his feet bare, his dark hair messed up, his jaw unshaven. Illary and Maddie were right behind him and Jessie the retriever hugged his side protectively.
After everyone chorused how good it was to see him up and around, Ian offered Sanchez his chair. But he just laughed. “Hey, people, I’m all right, okay?” He stabbed a thumb at Illary and Maddie. “I had to practically threaten them before they gave me
“You a shifter?” he called. “Is that what this is about?”
The parrot circled down toward him and landed on his nonexistent shoulder, cooing softly. No shifter, he thought. He realized this bird was Kali, the parrot that had lived so many years in the lobby of the Posada de Esperanza, the inn where Tess and Ian first stayed as transitional souls. Back then, Kali occupied a perch in the large front bay window in the lobby and he always had thought she was a spirit, not an actual living parrot. Now he suspected she was both, one of those birds, like an owl, a raven, or a crow, that traversed dimensions.
As Charlie approached Wayra and Illary’s place in Mariposa, Kali flew off and settled on the fence. Charlie thought himself through the front door and into the spacious living room. Tastefully decorated in browns and soft pastels, the room boasted an amazing collection of original art—Picasso, van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, O’Keeffe, and the Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín.
The living room was deserted. Wayra, Tess, and Ian sat at a table on the screened porch, and before Charlie joined them, he assumed his virtual form as Manuel Ortega, a Quechua—short, slender stature, dark hair and eyes, a c olorful blanket wrapped around his shoulders, jeans and a sweater and boots. He slid the door open and walked out onto the deck.
“Sorry to intrude,” he said. “I’m glad all of you are okay. How’s Sanchez doing?”
“The guy with the answers,” Wayra said. “Good to see you, Charlie. And Sanchez is sleeping comfortably.”
“We were just talking about you,” Tess said, and got up and hugged him hello.
In Charlie’s virtual form, physical contact felt real and always made him miss his actual former life as Charlie Livingston.
“You haven’t been around for months,” Ian remarked.
“Months? Really? It’s been that long?” Charlie pulled out a chair and sat down. “I apologize. I guess I’ve been preoccupied. So is it true? Dominica has a brother?”
Wayra nodded and explained the specifics. “I don’t have any idea where he has been all these centuries, but he’s definitely here now.”
“And he had a message for you, Dad” Tess said.
“Yeah, I heard. I talked to Lauren earlier. Wayra, may I see this stone that sent Sanchez into convulsions?”
“Sure.” He slipped it from his jacket pocket, set it in the middle of the table, and got up and turned on a floor lamp. “Illary spotted it near a vanished area at the bottom of the hill where the café sits. It was glowing, so I picked it up.”
Oracle. Sipapu. A Hopi word, meaning “an opening in the earth.” What the hell did that even mean? Charlie wondered, and picked up the stone.
It was smooth and dark, about three inches long and half as wide. As he pressed it between his hands, the smoothness abruptly changed. He could feel grooves, bumps, protrusions, and its texture was like sandpaper. He held it up to the light and was surprised to see that the surface was now inscribed with symbols.
“Do any of you recognize these symbols?” he asked, and held out his hand, the stone in the center of it.
The others leaned forward for a look. “It was smooth before,” Tess exclaimed.
“It’s as if the heat of your hands released those marks,” Ian said.
Wayra nodded. “Interesting. The stone was found by a shape shifter and a chaser’s virtual hands released the stone’s secrets.”
“May I have a look?”
They all glanced back at Sanchez, who stood in the open doorway in a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt, his feet bare, his dark hair messed up, his jaw unshaven. Illary and Maddie were right behind him and Jessie the retriever hugged his side protectively.
After everyone chorused how good it was to see him up and around, Ian offered Sanchez his chair. But he just laughed. “Hey, people, I’m all right, okay?” He stabbed a thumb at Illary and Maddie. “I had to practically threaten them before they gave me
Similar Books
