1 The Bank of the River by Michael Richan Page B

at the door, asking to remove the IV in Roy’s arm, which he eagerly
presented to her to facilitate the task. In another twenty minutes they were in
Steven’s car and headed back to Roy’s house.
    “What did
you mean when you said we ‘stirred it up’?” Steven asked.
    “Before I
came over that first night,” Roy replied, “what you’d seen was limited to
things Ben wanted you to see. All of the manifestations – the knocking, the
faces, the head over the bathtub – that was all Ben, things that referenced
him, his knowledge of events. I show up two nights later, and bam! ” Roy
clapped his hands together for dramatic effect, “the shadow appears, and has
ever since. I think it was stirred up by me, by my involvement.”
     “By you? How?”
Steven asked.
    “I think my
involvement was what both Ben and the shadow wanted all along. I think they
used you to get me involved. The reason why the shadow attacks me, why it never
even showed up until I arrived at your place, is because it needs, it eats,
what I have. It attacks me and not you because I’m stronger, I’ve got the gift.
And it sucks it out of me – that’s what it’s doing when it attacks, it’s
draining me. It’s why you put me in the hospital.”
    “But why?”
Steven asked. “I understand it attacking Ben, but why you? Because you’re able
to communicate to Ben?”
    Roy sighed.
“I don’t know. Nothing’s surfaced that explains why. I still need to figure
that out. What is our next step?”
    “No more
trances,” Steven said. “I mean it. If you’re right, they only give the thing
what it wants, more access to you.”
    “Fine,” Roy
shot back, “but I intend to go through Ben’s journal with a fine tooth comb.”
    “I think
that’s a great idea, so long as you stay awake.” Steven pulled into Roy’s
driveway, but left the car running.
    “You’re not
coming in?” Roy asked.
    “Nope. You
get to work on that journal, see if anything pops out. I’m going to do some
research on that news article and the abduction suspect.”
    “You be
careful,” Roy warned, getting out of the car. “We don’t know everything we’re
dealing with here, so don’t take risks.”
    “Look who’s
talking,” Steven shot back, and put the car in reverse.

Chapter Twelve
     
     
     
    Steven
returned home from the library a little after 5 p.m. The house was trashed –
the hallway was still torn up, the kitchen hadn’t been dealt with in days.
Steven ignored it all and called Roy.
    “Get in your
car and meet me at Bent’s in ten minutes,” Steven said.
    “I’m not
hungry,” Roy replied. “Besides, I think I dug up something you should know.”
    “Well, I am
hungry.” He checked his watch. “Meet me there at quarter of six. And I have
something for you, too.”
    “Fine,
goddamn it…” Roy said, hanging up. Steven grabbed a couple of flashlights, then
rummaged in a closet for a pair of binoculars that normally only came out for
concerts. He stuffed them into a duffel bag and went back downstairs and out
the basement door.
    Within a few
minutes he was at Bent’s. Roy wasn’t there yet, so he ordered and sat in a
booth that seemed to offer the most privacy. He was three bites into his burger
when Roy arrived and sat at the table.
    “You having
anything?” Steven asked.
    “I told you
I wasn’t hungry,” Roy replied.
    “You gotta
keep your strength up. You’re an old man and I wouldn’t want to have to put you
back into the hospital just because you hadn’t been eating.”
    “I’m not
hungry because I already ate. And you need to show more respect for your elders.”
    Steven
brushed it off. “You said you found something?”
    “Yes, I
have,” said Roy. “The sections you marked in Ben’s journal aren’t the half of
it. Yes, Ben hunted him down and yes, he was terrorized by the guy’s ghost. But
I think Ben must have talked to the guy at some point, confronted him, had some
kind of conversation with him. He knows