Lister Crowe Read online

  Lister Crowe

  by

  Matthew Kenny

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  Prologue

  Cassie lived a good life but she had no inkling of those, afflicted as she, who did not fare so well in the world of her brother Alton. Cassie knew a whole lot she had no reason to but not much about, what her brother called, reality. She could not see the world as her parents saw it having been born blind but not without sight. Cassie’s every move in her parents world were movements in other worlds, her worlds.

  Though Cassie was lonely at times she had never been a crying, whining child nor a child at all. She had taken a bottle when she was a babe but her thoughts had always been her own. Her world was one of energy and vibration and it held the most amazing things. It was a world without walls and doors as though it were one large room of familiar signatures which she could feel in a profound way.

  Her world was by far the more superior of the two realities she found herself buoyed between but they made for an interesting paradoxical structure. The world of Alton was strict and difficult to bend, like steel. Hers was more malleable and subject to her wishes and whims, like gold. If she did not have to walk in both Cassie knew she would have become godlike but for her mortal coil.

  She and her only true companion Mr. Tinker, an ancient soul encased in the body of an aged, corpse like man, would commune for hours, days or it could have been centuries as time held little meaning to Cassie and none to Tinker.

  They would share about the multiverse and its complexities. Tinker, always so logical and cold would wordlessly pass along knowledge through the link they had shared since the beginning. Though she was never alone she longed for more though she knew not what, just something to break up the grueling day to day monotony. It seemed all her life consisted of was existing from one moment to the next, no more, no less. She was given all she desired but she was sure there was more to life than Casandra’s Wing as it was called in hushed tones.

  In one of hundreds of exchanges Tinker had let slip the existence of the bubble she was being held in. At first she could not believe what she had heard. She pondered what he had revealed for a moment assuring herself she had not misunderstood. She was unsure how to feel about the revelation but as the truth slowly began to formulate in her mind, an anger began as a heat in her heart. It was the old man, her father and she knew it. His fear of her was palpable every time she got too near his dark, corrupted and diseased aura.

  Tinker soon realized his error and tried to show her the reasons and the benefits of being protected as she was. The pictures flashed through her mind as he pumped them one after another into her psyche. The arguments were all good and valid ones but Cassie at the ripe old age of twelve was not one to be held much less denied. She let her spirit search out the barrier to discover the truth of the claim.

  Cassie stood a few feet from the wall in front of a pair of thick curtains. It was a simple ruse her father had pulled. She had not seen the barrier before because she had not thought it a possibility but once the seed had been planted it grew exponentially. She did not know of its existence but in her world she could sense something was not quite right.

  “Is there a door here?” Cassie asked Tinker expecting no answer. She concentrated really hard as Tinker had shown her but she was not able to envision what lay before her. Not for the last time she cursed the old man and his grasp of the occult.

  She felt around on the curtains, grabbing and pawing at the fabric looking for some resistance. Her hand found purchase and stopped. Her blond head tilted back and she began chewing her lower lip. She gripped the knob and turned but the fabric slipped on the metal surface. She began fumbling with the knob trying to get something to happen. She grew angry and began to wrestle with the curtain, a couple of grunts escaped her. She stopped suddenly her white within white eyes closing in frustration as she stepped back, her emotions checked.

  “Open the door.” she commanded. Tinker stepped up and drew the curtain aside. Moonlight poured in and lit Cassie like a white dwarf star birthed from darkness. Her white nightgown which was her day to day attire, light blonde hair and ivory skin having not known sunlight seemed to radiate. Tinker unlocked the door and opened it.

  All at once Cassie was hit by sounds and smells she had never experienced. The chill in the air immediately caused goosebumps to break out on her skin and the sound of wildlife of all manner assailed her. The flood of information her brain began processing was something so new she let out a small gasp. All she could do was revel in the moment, slack jawed. A smile crept across her face and she breathed deeply through her nose, taking in the fresh air she had never known. Beyond the door was something her parents did not want her to know about. The heat in her heart became an ember, her anger fueling the small disturbance.

  She exited the glass double doors, which led from her wing directly to the grounds. Tinker was hot on her heels. She did not know much about Alton’s world and it surprised her to feel the carpet of cool slightly prickly plants beneath her feet. The breeze on her face worked magic on her nightgown as well as it set to fluttering behind her. The smell of the air was pungent and full, a mixture of a million different scents.

  Thousands of signatures had appeared in the back of her mind though Tinker was still by far the most powerful of them. All life had a signature but Cassie had never known the extent of it until her awakening to the world of Alton. Cassie could not contain her delight as she stretched out her arms and spun in a circle, head tilted to the sky. The force of her spin sent her long, blonde hair spinning a wider arc. She felt Tinkers hands ready to catch her and she swatted them away which stopped her spin. A frown and knotted brow took up residence on her young face.

  “What else have they been hiding from me?” her voice held an undertone which promised retribution and caused her ember to become a small flame. Cassie’s powerful spirit reached out and grabbed at another barrier. It was not far and she started off toward its edge.

  As she walked she fumed about the cage she had been kept in. They all knew about it. Why had no one told her? She would expect it from her self absorbed and unintelligent brother as he would not have the wit to understand. He took after their father and Cassie despised the old man so transitively Alton was subject of much of her ire though she always played his ally. They were twins and shared a bond but she knew he partook in the depravity of their parents. She could smell it on all of them.

  She stepped into a thicket and felt sharp thorns dig into her legs and prick at her bare feet. She was suddenly lost and without her ever present safety and warmth. She noticed the chill in the air and pulled her arms tight around her, unseeing eyes of white going wide. The immediate change in feeling brought about more dark than she had ever known.

  Tinker immediately stomped into the thicket and snatched her up in his arms as though plucking a flower. She turned her sightless eyes up to his face, a sneer twisting her features.

  “Set me down.” the power in her voice was undeniable and without thought Tinker did as he was told. As Cassie was being set gently back in the thicket the branches scraped her legs and pulled at her nightgown again but this time it was not such a bother. Her feet were more tender though and it caused her a wince as something sharp caught her arch. Indignation flared in her:

  “I am not afraid!” Cassie yelled into the night her conviction all consuming.

  She sniffed the air and got down on all fours grabbing at dead leaves and dirt. She was rummaging around in the underbrush marveling at the smells and sensations. She sensed life forms in everything she touched and the am
ount of life she felt energized her. She was the capacitor, with the power of existence flowing into her, charging her. Cassie was no child and soon realized she was more than these creatures she held, more than they would ever be. Suddenly satisfied with her exploration Cassie stood, clods of debris falling from her hands. Alton’s world was more complex than she had expected but still it was not as rich as her own.

  “Now you can pick me up.” Cassie commanded looking all the petulant child. Her night gown was torn in places. Her arms and legs were scratched up. Dirt covered her face and her hair held a multitude of leaves in its grip. Tinker, always the servant did as he was told and lifted her gently in his arms and continued through the thicket.

  As they approached the barrier Tinker stopped a few paces from it. She could feel its power but what was it? She had assumed it was a cage but now once in it’s presence she knew instinctively it could not hold her. Then she understood. She was of two worlds and this barrier did not exist in Alton’s world, only in hers.

  “Set me down.” Cassie whispered knowing her future was being written in real time. Tinker did not obey and Cassie could feel a fear in him which had never existed before. She delved deeper and found it a fear for his charge, his companion, friend and in a sense, his daughter. The two had spent everyday together since her birth but Tinker was not supposed to have feeling. Was he? She felt a pang in her chest at the thought of her sad companion standing at attention at her funeral, wordlessly bidding his final farewell.

  “Set me down.” Cassie said much more firmly and this time. Tinker did as he was told. She was not going to let sentiment get in her way no matter how unexpected.

  She was being tested she was sure. The years Cassie had spent in isolation had escorted her to this moment and her future lie just within reach. This was what Cassie had been feeling for years. This was the thing which seemed to be missing. Nothing in the multiverse ever took place outside of now and it was her moment.

  “Who are you to decide when is the right time?” Tinker said in a low aged voice with a raspy edge. Cassie cocked her head at the sound of her friend speaking. Their communion had always happened without words. Why would he speak now? Cassie reached out with her mind and felt another presence had replaced her Tinker. She followed the thread her head twitching from angle to angle.

  “Crabtree?” the name was a question for she knew of no one by such a name. Her list of known others in Alton’s world was minimal at best. If not for her thrall of a brother Alton, her non-involved parents, a few servants and her protector she knew of no others. People feared her as her father did or they adored her like her brother but this Crabtree felt indifferent.

  She turned to Tinker who was back to his old self but the question hung in the air. She did not know what was on the other side of the barrier but she had been spied on, caged and ignored for far too long. The nerve… to take her for granted. Did they think her a child? Now was the time for her to show all of them the power contained within her small frame.

  Her anger ignited and her signature dwarfed Tinkers in her world as her fury was unleashed. She turned and strode through the barrier her outstretched hand leading the way. Tinker could do nothing but look on as little Cassie disappeared through an eight foot stone security wall.

  Pinpoints of power appeared to her spirit in cascading patterns for miles around except in the large void which was her home, the Tremont estate. It took a moment to get her bearings but soon she was able to discern different types of entities, happenings and places of meaning littered through her world. Some were large and others smaller and with this new insight she could sense her own aura. Cassie felt no small amount of pride at the spread of her reach as it was larger than all within her sphere of preternatural vision.

  A particularly powerful signature caught her attention at some distance and she immediately started toward it. The world of Alton was treacherous she could sense but she did not fear and began forth with no hint of self doubt. She reached out with her mind, sensing objects as she approached them. It took a good bit of concentration to see in Alton’s world but her anger had made her much more powerful.

  She passed all manner of signatures many of them were in houses and were normal run of the mill folks. Their signatures were weak, gray and held no pull for her; A violent argument, old houses with years of lives lived within the walls and beings of no consequence.

  A loud horn honked close and loud accompanied by a long shriek in passing but Cassie did not flinch or alter her course. She would not be delayed or dissuaded by anything in any dimension. She kept a fast and steady pace as she weaved through the trees toward the signature. This one was not very large and she sensed other, much more profound signatures further away but it would have to do.

  “Are they others like me?” the hope in Cassie’s voice caused her eyebrows to rise with curiosity. She was one of a kind and it was her curse. No one could understand her or see the wonders she had been blessed with and until this moment she had not realized how much she wanted to know of someone who might. Her isolation had been complete. The utter lack of respect she felt at her imprisonment added fuel to her inner fire.

  When she reached the spot in the park near the old oak, Cassie could feel the event which had stained the scene in such a profound and permanent way. A woman had been brutalized here as her spirit was snuffed from all planes, devoured. She felt the rage, hate and shame which remained tattooed on the area. Cassie sniffed at the air as she ran her fingers through the ether all around her. Her toes hung inches from the ground as light seemed to cling to her being and radiate out in waves. All things seemed one, whole and connected.

  It was within her reach, among the trees and it was hungry.

  Ed Yearling would tell the tale of the ghost girl for the rest of his life. He had seen her on his way home from the night shift. A blond, long haired girl of more than ten, less than sixteen in a white nightshirt “walked” right out in front of his vehicle. He always used the air quotes in the retelling for she was not walking. He slammed on the brakes of his old Geo Metro and came to a screeching stop. All he could do was watch as the young girl seemed to float across the road and into the trees beyond.

  Ed held his breath as the glowing girl made her way effortlessly among the trees. He quickly pulled off the road and took to hoof after her. In the years after he could not relate what he had been thinking in the moment but he plunged into the thicket at the edge of the park chasing a ghost.

  The girl was fast and quickly outpaced him. He worked in an office and did not get out much and as a result his breath had become short and his legs began to quiver. It took time and a large amount of effort but Ed managed to keep her luminescence visible as it lit the trunks of trees in a most eerie yet comforting way.

  The glow was up ahead and had stopped. He approached as cautiously and as quietly as he could. His heartbeat was loud in his ears as he quieted his sharp intakes of breath. He slipped between trees and overgrowth until he got a sight line to the girl. Ed leaned against an accommodating tree and watched the apparition float in a small clearing weaving her hands and body through the air. He could almost feel her in the back of his mind searching for something. What was she looking for? Ed suddenly feared the ghost girl might be looking for him. Just as the thought appeared the girl tensed causing Ed a moment of panic.

  In the blink of an eye she was turned and facing a man Ed had not seen come up behind her. As much light as she contained he radiated darkness. He towered over her, a wicked looking blade in his hand, his eyes fixed hungrily upon her diminutive form. Ed suddenly felt fear for the girl. The entity she had found was evil at it’s core and it meant her torment, of that there was no doubt. The light and the dark faced off and it seemed as though one was pushing upon the other, testing strengths and weaknesses. They regarded each other for what seemed like an eternity to Ed. He swallowed thickly not daring to move.

  All at once the darkness sprang toward the girl silently, its ill intent palpabl
e. As it came forward shafts of brilliant light began to eat away at the tenuous darkness and the man beneath. The girls already intense light began to radiate with more urgency as the man slowly disintegrated to fiery embers in mid lunge, the knife falling as the hand holding it disintegrated. The vibration of the clash faded from Ed’s jaw as burning embers of evil drifted through the trees and past him. The girls otherworldly light began to dim once again.

  Ed jumped when the girl began laughing loudly and very much like a child. It was genuine joy he heard in her tone and it made him smile in spite of himself. She began to slip away among the trees but Ed did not follow. He had seen more than enough for one night but for years after he wondered about the scene he had witnessed. What had it all meant in the grand scheme of things?

  Cassie had not wanted the night to end but end is exactly what it did. It amazed her, the world which had been waiting for her just beyond a most bothersome curtain and a frail door. Her anger had faded quickly after she had dispatched the horror in the park and along with it, the power she had felt. It was not long before she was walking on cut and bleeding feet. Every inch of her body was numb which she knew was not a good sign. She felt like she had been in a wild fight with a cat and though Cassie could not see, her appearance reinforced the idea.

  She had been right, it was a test. Perhaps not engineered by some overseer but maybe fate set out tasks for the worthy and unworthy alike. She had proved her worth, she had shown them all. Cassie stumbled more than a few times before she finally tripped headlong on a branch tangled between her ankles which added more cuts to her abused flesh. All her weight hit the ground and her breath puffed audibly from her small lungs.

  Consciousness was a finicky, fleeting thing as her head lolled around on her neck trying to convince her body to get up and moving. Her muscles, exhausted and content at rest could not be bargained with and her commands were ignored. With all the power she contained she was still, in the end, a blind girl at the mercy of an uncaring world. The night had been glorious and even in her devastation she would not have had it any other way.