Free 3 Ghosts of Our Fathers by Michael Richan Page B

Frank’s situation as we were, but we were
also afraid we’d done something terrible. All three of us went back to the boy
in the garage to ask him what had happened to Frank. Davy did all of the
communicating with the boy, interpreting the answers the boy gave so we could
understand. He never mentioned anything about the soul cage expiring, just said
that Frank was alive, was fine, and wouldn’t ever bother us again. Sean and I
were taken from the home almost immediately after that – we never went into the
garage again. I saw Davy once more at a high school dance. He was dating a girl
from our school. I remember we talked briefly about Frank. I told him Frank was
still in an institution, and I remember Davy saying, ‘good, good.’ Then our
conversation shifted to girls and how to score some beer after the dance. Never
saw him again after that.”
    “Steven, is your grandfather still
alive?” Daniel asked.
    “No,” Steven said, “he died years
ago.”
    “My guess,” Daniel said, “is that
when Frank’s soul was caged, he was angry, in a rage. That’s never gone away.
He holds Sean, Garth, and David accountable. No offense intended, but Garth is
elderly and without children. David, on the other hand, has living children who
continue to use the gift. It doesn’t surprise me he’d try to exact vengeance
there.”
    “He always hated Davy,” Garth
said. “Never knew why. He hated him more than he disliked Sean and I. If he
learned that Davy was involved in this, I’m sure he’d be furious at him.”
    “So that means,” Steven said,
“that in addition to myself, Roy might be at risk. And my son, Jason.”
    “I’d say so, yes,” Daniel said.
“It’s worth finding out if either of them have been having bad dreams lately.”
    “What exactly can Frank do?”
Steven asked. “He’s a ghost, right? Roy and I have fought ghosts before. They
can be dealt with.”
    “Really?” Garth said. “Fascinating.”
    “I’m no expert on soul cages,” Daniel
said, “but I do know a little. Frank isn’t a normal ghost. A normal ghost
occurs after death, when a person goes through death with their body and soul
together. When Frank’s soul was caged back in 1933, his body became like a
shell, operating on automatic. Eventually the shell died. But the soul never
died, never went through death, where a conversion takes place. Frank’s soul
still has a lot of life’s power in it. How much, we don’t know. We don’t know
the original terms of the binding.”
    “When I saw Frank at my house,”
Steven said, “he was in some kind of glass casing that was restricting his
movements.”
    “That’s a physical representation
of the cage,” Daniel said. “It has stopped his soul from returning to his body,
and from doing or going anywhere else for that matter. But his mind is still
inside that cage, active, able to gather information in real time. Do you
remember when he touched your neck?”
    “Yes,” Steven said, “the bruising,
the way it was moving my skin around.”
    Garth sat back in his chair,
overwhelmed by the discussion.
    “Frank certainly didn’t have that
ability when he went into the cage,” Daniel said. “He picked up some skills
along the way.”
    “The cage wouldn’t stop him from
learning?” Steven asked. “Or from gathering abilities or tools?”
    “It would depend upon the tools,”
Daniel said, “and the terms of the binding. Some tools are purely non-temporal,
so if he was determined enough he could have used the last eighty years to
prepare for when he’d be released. This isn’t a ghost you’re dealing with –
it’s much more lethal.”
    They both paused and looked up at
Garth.
    “Gentlemen,” Garth said, “I’m
sorry this has come down on you. I really am. When we did it all those years
ago we had no idea what would happen. We just did it to be free of the beatings.
But I will tell you this, Mr. Hall. Sean and I were grateful to Davy back when
it happened, for helping