Chapter 5 of The Power of Steam Compels You

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CHAPTER 5

Everyone stood in the main great room of the Fergusons' mansion. Nessy figured this would work best for her contraptions, as Wallace wanted everyone together. The entry hall was too cramped. Here all had plenty of room to wander while staying in the same place. Most of the mansions the Wranglers had visited in Phoenix had similar spaces, and Wallace found they always worked well, even if all they did was debunk the various claims in the capital city.

Nessy had a large gadget which would force the spirit to show itself without the need for aetherial devices, and another which would make it possible for them to communicate with it. Both ran on steam, and she had already made sure they were filled with water for continuous use. The contraptions had proved valuable in past investigations when they dealt with actual spirits, and no doubt it would be the same this time. Wallace hoped so, anyway, while Nessy was positive.

"What do we do?" Bart asked. The rest of his family also threw questioning glances towards the Wranglers.

Joshua took up the explanation. "We wait for Wallace to sense that the spirit is with us, and then we let the devices take over."

Nessy let out a big smile, smacked the side of one of her contraptions, and stared explaining how they worked. Before she could build up much of a head of steam, Wallace sensed the spirit. He didn't see it in the room with them, but it was close.

"Time to bring it forth, Nessy," he said.

She rolled her eyes at the interruption, but didn't miss a beat in tossing down a small device, no bigger than a snuffbox. It would draw the spirit to it, and then the bigger contraption would take over to get it to reveal itself. Wallace felt it working right away, and a second or two later, he alone could see the spirit in the room, fixated on the tiny device. He motioned for Nessy to expose it, and after a loud clank of the thing powering on, everyone saw the ghost.

"It is him," Bart whispered, and the spirit turned towards him and said something, though none of them could hear it.

Nessy stepped over to the other steam-powered contraption and started it up. Since she'd primed it while they'd initially set up, like the other one, it didn't take long. The first sound they heard, besides the contraption's rumblings itself, was a ghostly laughter.

"That laugh is definitely his," Rachel said, awe in her voice. Next to her, Bart nodded.

"Indeed it is, Madam Shop Keeper," the spirit said. His mouth movements didn't match the words, but there was no doubt they came from it.

Wallace and Joshua shared a look. This was the best voice quality they'd ever received. Nessy would have joined them in their look, but she was transfixed with her gadget.

"Since you remember me, you'll also remember that you possess something of mine," the spirit said.

"We have nothing of yours," Bart said.

"Not even in your coat?" the spirit answered.

Wallace's eyes flickered over to Bart at once, and the man blanched and put his hand over a pocket inside his suit jacket.

"We paid you for it," Rachel said. "It was a legitimate business deal."

The spirit again bellowed out its otherworldly laugh. "It seems we have a different definition of business. But that matters not anymore. What you now need to understand is that I am currently in control of a demon. It wants nothing more than to break free of my restraints, but I can keep hold of it for the time being. Give me my artifact, and I'll banish it back to whence it came. If not, I shall soon lose control, and it will be able to carry out the reason I called it -- to devour the souls of your family."

"We did nothing wrong," Bart barked at the spirit. He turned to Wallace. "Banish it now."

Wallace shook his head. "If we do that, the demon will be free, and we don't yet know how to combat it. That means it'll be free to suck out your souls."

Rachel let out an unladylike curse, one even Nessy rarely uttered.

"Keep your lie, and the four of you will cease to exist," the spirit said.

With that, it disappeared, but Wallace could still sense danger in the room. An explosion of energy erupted from where the spirit had stood, and a monstrous head, easily the size of the machine horse that pulled their cart from the zephyr drift station to the house, hovered before them. It made no move, but it didn't need to. Wallace had seen plenty in his time of hunting spirits, but nothing compared to this … thing, this demon.

The room had been unseasonably cold with the spirit in it, but now it went downright icy. Silence assaulted the great room as everyone lost their ability to breathe. Almost as quick as it appeared, the demon was gone, and when it was, Wallace couldn't remember a specific detail about it other than its huge and horrifying appearance. He supposed that was his mind at work keeping him sane.

The sound of everyone letting out a loud exhale at regaining their ability to draw breath filled the room. Then the pent-up screams started.

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Chapter 4 - The Power of Steam Compels You

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CHAPTER 4

The Spirit Wranglers sat amongst their equipment in the Fergusons' front entryway, making sure everything was ready. The family had been sent out of the room so the Wranglers could discuss everything and firm up a plan of attack. Usually this was the best time to discuss what they wanted to try to debunk first, but that wasn't necessary with this case. No, they already knew they were facing an actual spirit this time. But was there more?

"They're hiding something," Wallace said. "About what the spirit believes they stole."

"That was easy enough to see," Nessy said, tinkering with one of her contraptions. "If they were innocent, they wouldn't have protested so hard. They looked like they were trying to convince themselves as much as us."

Wallace nodded. "I don't think they told a boldfaced lie, but something is going on. Their son seemed ready to explain. We might want to work on him."

"Whatever the truth is," Joshua said, "we need it. It very well could be the key to banishing this ghost."

"There's something else," Wallace said. "Did either of you find the energy released during the séance to be excessive?"

"The spirit must really want it back," Nessy said. "Whatever they took, legally or not."

"Possibly," Wallace said. "Though it's a rare spirit that has such power no matter the circumstances. Most couldn't pull down that shelf in the cellar even if it wasn't bolted as tight as they claim."

"I see where you're going with this, and I tend to agree," Joshua said. "Though I must admit, I hope we're wrong."

Nessy put the finishing touches on a piece of equipment, and looked over at them both. "Care to enlighten me? Did they somehow project that spirit so it was only visible in the aether? Is it an even bigger hoax than anything we saw in Phoenix?"

"No," Wallace said. "What we're saying is, it could be a demon."

She shrugged. "So? They're basically spirits, right? We should still be able to nab it."

"I do enjoy the optimism, but it's a bit trickier than that," Joshua said. "It'll take more than our normal tactics to banish a demon, no matter what kind it is."

"So what do we do?"

"First, we need to figure out what it really is," Wallace said. "Meaning, we need to discover if it truly is a demon, and then, if it is, what it's classification of evil is."

"I'll then need to read through some of my books to see how we go about wiping it from our plain of existence," Joshua added. To Wallace, he said, "Do you sense it? As Nessy said, we still may only be dealing with a spirit emboldened with strength for what it feels wronged it. Revenge has empowered spirits before."

"Something more is here, but I can't tell what, not for sure." He took a deep breath and reached out with his mind in an attempt to ferret out anything that could help them. He sensed the spirit somewhere in the house, and there was something extra surrounding it. Could it be a demon, or was Joshua correct in downplaying it? Never more than right now did he wish his slight supernatural gift was more powerful.

All at once, there were no longer any doubts this was a demon they were dealing with. The lights in the entryway flickered off and on, and an immense presence filled the room. Though they couldn't see anything, it was there. The pressure grew so fast that Wallace thought his eardrums would burst, and judging by how Nessy and Joshua gripped the side of their heads, they felt the same. He clenched his eyes shut, but images still danced across his vision, ones so disturbing he wished he could pluck his own eyeballs out, though it would do no good. He couldn't decide the best way to describe them -- the hateful dance of the undead was the best he could do, but that didn't do it justice. There were no words anywhere in Zephyria that could rightfully explain it.

As quick as it started, it was gone. Wallace and Joshua dropped to their knees, while Nessy, who was already sitting on the floor, slumped to her side. They each gasped for breath and took a few minutes to collect themselves before anyone tried talking. Nessy finally broke the silence.

"Okay, so it seems a demon may be a bit bigger of a deal than I gave it credit for."

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Chapter 3 - The Power of Steam Compels You

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CHAPTER 3

Joshua pulled his aetherial eyepiece out of his pocket, which allowed him to view the dead, while Nessy had one of her devices handy. Wallace needed no assistance to see spirits. He wasn't a medium, couldn't talk directly to the ghosts, nor could he channel anything, but his special sight came in handy, especially in this line of work.

"Is there truly a spirit there?" Rachel asked.

"See for yourself," Nessy said, moving so the entire family could view her handheld device.

The Fergusons gasped not only in surprise, but in obvious recognition.

"Why, that's the awful man who accused us of stealing from him," Rachel said to her husband.

"Indeed."

Interesting, Wallace thought. Something like that could keep a spirit from not only crossing over, but also drive it to haunt a specific person or family.

"Were the accusations true?" Joshua asked.

Both Bart and Rachel said, "Of course not," while acting scandalized by the question. Acting being the key word, as they were obviously hiding something. Wallace had plenty of practice in reading people's emotions -- it was a necessity when more often than not reported hauntings were hogwash -- and he could see that the two elder Fergusons might not be out-and-out lying, but they certainly weren't telling the complete truth.

What was even more interesting was the reaction of their kids. Abel looked about to say something, but Molly put a hand on his forearm, stopping him. If they couldn't get this ghost captured right quick, maybe Wallace could get Abel alone to learn what he knew.

"We're not here to judge," Joshua said. "We need to know such things to aid our investigation."

"No," Bart said with force. "It was a stark raving mad accusation from a lunatic."

"What is there to investigate?" Rachel said. "We all saw the horrible thing. Capture it and banish it from our lives."

"That'd be ideal," Nessy said. "Except you can see our equipment is still packed up. Can't exactly nab it, let alone banish it, without our goodies."

"Besides," Wallace said, "it's gone for now. I can sense it somewhere close, still in the house, but I couldn't tell you where. That's why we need to investigate. Facts can get us to drive it out here into the open."

"The spirit is the villain here, not us," Bart spat, while his wife nodded enthusiastically beside him.

"Okay, okay, let's all calm down," Joshua said. "We're on your side here. Why don't you folks explain what happened. What did it do to cause you to get in touch with Madam Halifax, and what drove her to contact us?"

Nessy reached into the compartment in the thigh of her metal leg. She lost her real one in an accident when they were children. Clunky prosthetics were a reality of most of her life, but once she had enough skill, she fashioned the leg she now wore. It moved so naturally that most people couldn't tell it wasn't her real appendage. In fact, he had no doubt, based on their lack of reaction, the Fergusons thought she merely reached into a pouch on the side of her work trousers. Instead, she slipped her hand through a concealed slit in the pants and into her leg.

She pulled out a small audio recording device, another of her own inventions. It wasn't much bigger than an average ten-piece copper novel. A thimble-full of water, which turned to steam, fueled it to spin a small wax disc inside. While it did, a special phonographic needle dug into the disc, recording the very sound itself. While the recording time was limited to no more than ten minutes, it usually provided plenty for their interviews. Plus, Nessy always carried a few extra wax discs, and it only took a moment to load a new one, while a refueling of water took even less.

Rachel started. "We first noticed strange occurrences a few months ago, things we all believed to have logical explanations. Unseen footsteps, objects out of place, doors and windows closing on their own, and other such things."

"I couldn't believe how drafty the place was getting, especially since I never felt any of the gusts, just spots of cold," Abel said.

"And I figured the walls and floors were wearing a bit thin," Molly added.

"No chance of that," Bart said. "This place is as solid as the day she was built. I guessed the servants were becoming careless, or the few machines we have were in need of tune-ups."

"This went on for a while," Rachel said. "It came to a point where we couldn't deny what was happening, and a medium was needed. Madam Halifax came highly recommended, but something happened mere seconds into her séance."

"What?" Wallace asked.

The Fergusons looked at one another, as if all were trying to find the right words. Abel was the first to discover his voice.

"An explosion of sorts. It threw us all back from the table, but there were no burns or scorch marks on anything."

"Madam Halifax left post-haste," Bart added. "All she said was that she'd get you here as quick as possible."

"And here we are," Nessy said.

"Has anything happened since the séance?" Wallace asked.

Rachel shook her head. "It's been silent."

"But eerily so," Molly said. "Like the thing is around, but it's doing nothing more than watching us."

As the Fergusons talked, the Ghost Wranglers had unpacked most of their equipment. Wallace was about to start the investigation proper to see if there was anything more when a loud crash sounded from somewhere in the house. They all jumped.

"The cellar," Rachel said, and they all rushed for it. Once down the stairs, they found a large shelf holding pickled and canned fruits and vegetables on the floor, many of the jars shattered.

"Could an explosion in the mine cause shaking enough to do this?" Joshua asked.

"No," Bart said. "It was bolted to the wall. If it were loose, someone would have noticed."

"We do run a successful mercantile, after all," Abel said.

"Yes, we know how to keep shelves sturdy," Molly added.

Wallace studied first the wall, and then the shelf. The unit had definitely been yanked out. This was not the work of a mere spirit. No, not at all. 

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