Page 16 of Christmas Spirits

The stranger thing was that I couldn’t see any similarities to my grandmother at all, who was her mother. Grandma Abigail was strict, sometimes harsh, and her love could be hard to decipher at times, but it was there. My mother appeared more soft-spoken. The kind to wear her emotions on her sleeve—which had been something Grandma Abigail had commented on often, seeing it as a weakness. But I didn’t because she seemed more like me in that sense.

The worry of one day being unable to control my Medium gift and ending up in an assisted living home like this tried worming its way to the forefront, but I shoved it away.

Laurence and my mother continued talking during my mind wanderings. Their conversation had gone to the terrible food they served here, and how she was dying for some home-cooked rice and red beans, to my pastry shop and my recent expansion into catering. I only half-listened, chiming in here and there when the exchanged called for it, but what I was really doing was watching the way my mother’s eyes continued to flash to other parts of the room, her lips pressed into a tight line and her jaw clenched.

Something wasn’t right.

When her gaze switched to an empty chair in the corner by the window and her entire body stiffened, I looked over to find nothing again and I frowned.

What was she seeing?

Then another thought struck me. Everything that was going on here could be temporary. An adjustment of her medicine, or the lack of it. There was a reason she was in this place. It’d be foolish of me to think she’d been automatically fixed somehow—that I could have my mom back and we could pick up where we’d left off.

My throat tightened at the realization, and pending tears rose. I blinked to keep them back. “Mama?”

When she turned to me again, her eyes had changed. Her pupils had swallowed up her warm brown irises, making me jump back.

“What the—” Laurence moved away, too.

Fear spiked through me. I’d never seen anything like this before.

“Mama?” I called to her cautiously. Her face blanked, but those terrifyingly eyes latched onto me, seeing but not really seeing me at all.

“Laurence, get the nurse,” I said to him, pointing to the red medical call button on the wall on the other side of her bed.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he ran around the bed and reached to hit it, but right before he could, my mother’s hand shot out and snatched his wrist stopping him. His eyes widened as he stared at her in disbelief. When he tried to pull back, her grip was too strong and kept him there.

He continued to tug against her, but she held him firm. Panic flashed across his face as he looked at me.

“Mama!” I cried out. “Let go of him! Let go!”

Slowly, her head turned toward me, tilting slightly, as if she was regarding me for the first time. That’s when I realized this wasn’t my mother anymore. She was channeling someone. Or something.

Laurence’s sudden cry of pain had me gasping. And then I saw it.Heardit. With a flick of her fingers, his wrist snapped. Broken.

Oh. My. God.

He reeled backward, clutching it to his chest.

“Try using magic now, sorcerer.” The voice that came out of my mother’s mouth was the complete opposite of the one she’d had before. A low, animalistic rumble. Almost indistinguishable.

Whatever had gotten ahold of her had forced its way in. Unless she’d been too weak to fight it. Or it had been too strong, which from Laurence’s broken wrist, seemed the right answer.

When she whipped my way again, she grabbed the front of my coat yanked me close. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply, and her lips split in a pleased grin.

“Found you,” the spirit she was channeling said.

Terror gripped me. Was this the evil spirit, the poltergeist, who was determined to steal my life energy? Had to be. Arianna had said it would latch itself onto me until it had drained me completely. Like a leech.

“Mama, it’s me, Katherine,” I pleaded, trying to reach my mother somewhere inside. I didn’t know how much good it would do, especially with a spirit as powerful as this one, but I had to try. “You have to fight it! Please!”

Then, with its grip on my coat, it lifted me onto my toes and threw me backward hard. I landed against the door, my head hitting the wood and pain exploding. I landed on my knees,

Snarling in triumph, my mother jumped up in bed, crouching low like a wild beast about to pounce its prey.

A squealing siren blared, causing her to scurry in panic and fall off the bed, covering her eyes. A red light flashed above me, and when my gaze shot up, I found Laurence standing there, his unbroken hand on the emergency call button. The sound of hurried footsteps came from the hall. I crawled away from the door, just as it flew open, revealing five male and female nurses. They rushed into the room, grabbing my mother by the arms and legs as she began to lash out, kicking and clawing at them. She gnashed her teeth and spit, fighting with every ounce of strength she had to get free.

Working together, they were able to avoid her blows and lift her back onto the bed. One of the female nurses actually climbed on top of her, pinned her body down as the others tried to tie her limbs to the bed with straps I hadn’t noticed before.

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