Home For The Holidays

I opened my mouth to tell her that I’d be right down, but before I could open my mouth, something went flying across the room and hit her in the face. Thank goodness it was just an old stuff animal from my sister’s bed and not something that could do real harm. Sam’s words were a bit more lethal.

“This is a demon free zone; keep your ass out. And the next time you touch my door, I’m gonna knock your ass down the stairs for real.”

“Tom, let’s go.” Tessa screeched; how had I missed that before? She does that a lot. I looked from her to my sister and back, not quite sure what to do next. That’s the way it’s been for the longest while, this insecurity, and indecisiveness that has never been a part of me until now.

I loved Deidre with all my soul, and when she betrayed me, something died inside me, and this is what’s left. At least I thought she did. But now…

“If you leave this room in the middle of our conversation, you can forget you have a sister.” For some reason, Sam taking the decision out of my hands like that was just the answer I needed. For the first time in too long to remember, I told Tessa no.

“I’ll be down when we’re done here Tessa, close the door, please.” She looked at Sam, who just raised her brow at her and then back to me before stomping away from the door. “You didn’t have to hit her.”

“And you didn’t have to fuck her, so we’re, even. Now tell me, how do you plan to get this evil out of our house? We’re not catholic so I doubt we can land an exorcism but they gotta be something along those lines we can do to be shot of her. Either that or that farmland dad bought years ago that he never used.”

“I don’t get it; what’s that land got to do with anything?”

“It can be her place of rest. Remember why dad didn’t use it after he bought it? Because the area is overrun with coyotes and hyenas, and other predators that he was afraid would be a problem for the livestock he planned to raise. She’d be right at home there.”

“That’s not nice, Samantha.”

“So why is your lip twitching? Seriously though, do you want out? Just say the word.”

“What can you do?” Her smile reminded me of when we were young, and she was up to something that was bound to get us both in trouble and me more so because I’m the oldest.

“Leave it all up to me, brother mine.” She rubbed her hands together, and I was already regretting opening up to her about this.

Samantha

I was dancing around my room like an idiot as soon as he left. Yes-yes-yes, I knew my brother wasn’t a lost cause. I wanted to call Jared and tell him about this turn of events, but mom was calling up the stairs to me. I checked my watch on the way down and realized that time had gotten away from me.

I bit into my lip, feeling just a little bit hesitant for the first time since I came home. I have a playbook in my head of how I want things to go, but there’s no guarantee that everyone and everything is going to fall into line. I’d left certain things until the last minute for the element of surprise and also because I’m in complete bitch mode.

I went in search of dad first before going to mom. He was in his study pretending to be Lord Byron again, with his pipe, a cashmere sweater over wool slacks, and a collector’s book of Shakespearean sonnets while sitting in front of the fireplace. Perfect, that’s his mellow mood. I can talk him into anything when he’s like this. Not that it takes much, my dad lets me have my way with pretty much anything, something I’m training Jared to do.

“Dad, I need a favor.” He looked over his nonprescription reading glasses at me, and I tried not to laugh. He has no idea that I know he does this because it’s one of mom’s favorite things. I don’t know how these two ended up together since mom was into the bookish type in college and dad is more the outdoorsy woodsman type, but somehow as the story goes, he’d swept her off her feet and just in the nick of time too.

“What is it, sweetheart? What do you need?”

“Well, it’s not so much something I need as something I need you to do for me.” I’m making a mess of this. It sounded way easier in my head. He put the book down on his lap and gave me his full attention. “Let me have it. Did you break something of your mother’s again?”