Page 7 of Christmas Spirits

No. Not at all.

As I bounced Zach in my arms, trying to soothe him, I realized something important. “Wait…you can see it, too?”

“The weird balled-up wad of black silk that almost sliced off my head a second ago? Yeah. I can see it.”

That was strange. If Laurence could see it, then maybe it wasn’t a spirit, like I had originally thought.

He leaned closer to it cautiously. “Reminds me of a mini dementor or something.”

Harry Potter reference. Since I hadn’t had time to read the books, he’d made me watch the movies with him and had done so at least a dozen times. Dementors were these black-cloaked like figures that sucked the souls out of their victims, if I remembered correctly.

I could see the connection.

“It just turned up and attacked us,” I explained and peered down at Zach. He had finally settled and was staring up at me with his flour-covered fingers in his mouth. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“A spirit that I can see and can touch things on this side of the veil? It’s nothing like I’ve seen either.”

Suddenly, the fabric-spirit quaked and rose an inch off the ground. Laurence’s arms went up again, ready to throw another spell, but the thing slunk across the room to the wall and twisted its form through the slats of the air vent, disappearing.

We stood there in stunned silence for a long moment. Waiting. Just in case it decided to come back. When there was no sign of the black tendrils, I pushed out all the held breath in my lungs. My muscles ached from being tensed during the ambush.

Was this what scared stiff felt like? Between the bruises I surely had on my lower half and the throbbing in my head from my hair being pulled, I hurt all over.

Laurence looked at our baby. “How is he? He didn’t get hurt, did he?”

“He’s fine, thank goodness. Just scared,” I said.

“I don’t blame him.”

“Me neither.” I glanced at the vent where the thing had disappeared. The chills were gone, but my body continued to tremble from lingering fear. “Maybe we should get out of here for a while.”

Laurence nodded, then spotted the ruined food scattered all over the floor and frowned. “We could get lunch?”

“I’m sorry your surprise didn’t go as planned. But I appreciate it.” Stepping over the crumpled flowers, I plucked my and Zach’s coats from the hooks near the door. “It was really thoughtful. And the flowers were gorgeous.” I wrapped the baby up the best I could and locked the backdoor’s deadbolt.

“That’s what I get for trying to be spontaneous,” he grumbled.

I placed a hand on his cheek and dipped my head to catch his gaze. “Hey,” I began, my tone gentle, “you are my hero. You came just in time and saved us both.”

That got a warm smile out of him. After he scooped a bundled up Zach from my arms, we walked into the front of the store. I was relieved to see the place was still empty.

As I flipped the open sign to close, the phone rang.

“Let the machine get it,” I said to Laurence and shrugged on my winter coat. I was almost positive it was just another Christmas order coming in. “I’m off the clock right now.”

We walked out, and I locked the door behind us. The temperature outside was so biting, it stunned you for a second. Especially after coming out of the comfort and warmth of the store.

Laurence hurried to his car, which was double-parked by the curb, and started getting Zach into his car seat. Pausing on the sidewalk, I took one last look at the shop’s tall windows. I didn’t know how I would be able to eat anything after being ambushed in my shop for the second time.

For some reason, all the feelings I’d experienced after the incident with Xaver came rushing back. The debilitating anxiety, the need to look over my shoulder all the time, heart-poundingWhat-if?thoughts of the situation going different and someone I loved being hurt… From this one moment, I felt like I had taken a step back from all the progress I’d made over the last few months. Because of some intruding spirit, I was lost again.

“Kay? Are you ready?” Laurence asked.

I turned and saw him sitting in the driver’s seat of his blue Toyota, window rolled down. I hurried to the passenger side and slid in. “Yeah, but I’m not sure about lunch. Unless you’re hungry, then we can go.”

“Stomach sour?”

I nodded.

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