Satin Bruises

The July sun beamed down upon Raleigh Gallion and her boss/co-worker, Anita Blake, as they got out of the car and headed for the front door of the huge, ancient Victorian house. On the porch, there was a woman sitting in a rocking chair, wringing her hands nervously. Raleigh had spoken to her earlier, she believed that there was a corpse in her basement, under the floorboards, and that it's spirit was still haunting her house.

Raleigh wiped the sweat off her forehead and neck, aggravated by the heat. They hadn't been out of the car for five minutes and they were practically drenched. Anita, being the leader and trainer, approached the woman first with her hand extended.

"Hello Mrs. Montgomery," she said professionally. "I'm Anita Blake, and this is Raleigh Gallion."

"Yes, I spoke with her before," the old woman replied. "I'm so glad you both could come all the way out here. Someone told me that you two were the best there are."

Raleigh forced a smile, she hated having her reputation precede her. It leaves so much room for disappointment, not that she cared about disappointing complete strangers. Anita nodded and politely asked if they could take the business inside. Raleigh followed both women inside, noted that the house was just as hot inside as it was outside. Instantly she could feel the presence of the dead man in the basement. His spirit was angry, pissed even. He had been wronged, wanting revenge.

"What makes you think that there is a ghost here?" Anita asked as the three sat down at a tiny kitchen table. The woman began to regale them with tales about doors slamming mysteriously, breaking windows, books falling off the shelf, even her finding her dog dead with it's throat torn out.

Raleigh gazed at the old woman. She found it odd that a spirit would actually harm an animal, even kill one. She didn't think it was possible.

"Mrs. Montgomery," Raleigh interjected. "What makes you think that the spirit killed your dog?"

"Well..." the woman began. "I found Pippin in the living room, covered in blood. His intestines were strewn across the rug."

"And that means-" Raleigh interrupted.

"There wasn't a scratch on him," Mrs. Montgomery finished. "All of his organs were all around him, and there wasn't a single cut or scratch. Only something supernatural can do something like that," she said grimly.

Raleigh's eyebrows raised. She exchanged concerned looks with Anita. They both knew that this was very unusual.

"Ma'am, this is extremely odd," Raleigh said softly. "Usually spirits can't harm living things, at least not physically. The only thing I can think of is...that you have harmed this person somehow..."

The old woman stiffened noticeably. She explained that she never even knew this person, how could she have done anything to him?

"That may be the case," Anita replied, trying to diffuse the situation. "But Miss Gallion is a medium, she has worked with many people and knows what happens in most situations. This one could be different."

"That is true, this could be a special case," Raleigh shifted in the uncomfortable seat, eyeballing the basement door nervously.

"Ma'am, may I go down into the basement?" Raleigh asked.

"Certainly."

Raleigh rose gracefully from her chair and carefully approached the door. She could feel the anger washing over her like tidal waves, hot, smothering waves. She pushed the door open and head down the dark stairs. Anita stood at the top of the stairs, watching.

"You need some lights?" she called down.

"No...no lights," Raleigh sighed. "Shut the door."

"Say what?"

"The door. Shut it."

Upstairs, the door creaked shut and Anita stayed on the other side, waiting for Raleigh. Mrs. Montgomery gazed at Anita.

"What is she doing?" the woman whispered.

"She's going to summon the spirit. Talk to him. Then banish him, with any luck."

Meanwhile, Raleigh stood frozen in place. She could clearly see the figure of a man standing in front of her, mangled and bloody. His face was twisted in a screaming grimace. He held a hand out to her.

"I'm Raleigh Gallion," Raleigh said dominantly. "I demand your co-operation. In return, I will send you to the other side. Do we have an agreement?"

The man dropped his hand and nodded. "What is your name?" Raleigh asked.

"Harold Montgomery," the spirit answered in a voice filled with gravel. Raleigh stifled a gasp. This man had to be the old woman's husband, but she had to ask.

"Are you Mrs. Montgomery's husband?"

"Yes, I am the murderous bitch's late husband," he snapped. The walls began to shake, the lights upstairs flickered.

"Sir, calm down. With the information, she will be dealt with accordingly. Did she kill you?"

"Yes."

"Where is the murder weapon?"

Harold looked at the concrete floor. "It's buried with my body. An old tire iron."

Raleigh nodded. She recited an incantation to send the spirit on his way and head back up the stairs. Anita had to know this. The door opened and Anita stuck her head around the corner.

"What's up?"

Raleigh leaned forward and whispered what she had discovered in her ear. After Raleigh finished the occurrence of events, Anita gazed at her, silently asking if she was positive about this. Raleigh returned her gaze to say that she wasn't wrong.

"He even told me where the murder weapon was," Raleigh whispered. "It's an old tire iron, it's buried with him."

Anita nodded. She told Raleigh to go keep Mrs. Montgomery occupied while she went and called the cops. Both women went back into the living room where the old woman sat on the couch, drinking a cup of tea. Anita politely excused herself and went out to the car to make the call. Raleigh sat across from the woman, gazing at her gnarled and shaking hands.

"Ma'am, do you have any idea who this could be?" Raleigh asked politely, pretending to be curious.

"I haven't the slightest idea," Mrs. Montgomery replied. "Why?"

"Just wondering, it could make things a little easier," Raleigh responded as she looked toward the car. She locked eyes with Anita. She was finally off the phone and making her way back into the house.

"Mrs. Montgomery, if you don't mind my asking, where is your husband?"

Mrs. Montgomery stiffened momentarily, then relaxed. She looked Raleigh directly in the eyes, then snapped.

"That is really none of your business," she replied curtly.

"Actually, it is," Anita answered, coming through the front door. Raleigh shifted to look at the petite brunette. Anita placed herself between the two women and looked at the Mrs. Montgomery.

"Ma'am, I have to ask you to stand up and place your hands behind your back," Anita said calmly. Raleigh rose from her seat, anticipating something going awry. The woman just sat there and stared at Anita, refusing to budge.

"Why? What are you trying to say?"

Anita sighed irritatedly. Raleigh, sensing her aggravation, stepped forward slightly to help diffuse the situation.

"Ma'am, this is just protocol. Just work with us here...please."

Mrs. Montgomery got up slowly, never taking her eyes off the medium and necromancer. The atmosphere of the situation had changed for the worse, Raleigh felt it and her eyes darted to the tea cup in her hand. Then, suddenly, the old woman threw the cup and it's hot contents at Anita. Anita, covered in scalding hot tea, screamed in shock.

"I can NOT believe you just threw a tea cup at me! What the FUCK is your problem?!" Anita shrieked as the woman bolted into the kitchen, Anita and Raleigh in close pursuit. Anita drew her gun as she ran into the kitchen. Raleigh, unarmed, snuck into the kitchen through the dining room and crouched behind the island.

Mrs. Montgomery stopped next to the island and grabbed a knife from the cutting block. Anita stopped at the doorway, her gun aimed at the old woman. Raleigh, while Anita had the woman occupied, reached over and grabbed a knife from the same cutting block. The three women squared off, none willing to break the strange tension between them.

"Mrs. Montgomery, please, don't make us hurt you," Anita finally asked quietly, taking a tentative half step forward. After that sentence, all hell broke loose.

All around them, cabinets slammed, dishes flew from shelves, silverware and kitchen sundries rattled in the drawers, and a vicious wind whipped through the room, tossing the ladies' hair into their faces, and sending papers scattering across the floor.

Mrs. Montgomery collapsed, crying, hands curled over her face as the faucet exploded next to Anita.

"We need to get the hell out of here!" Raleigh yelled, grabbing her mentor's arm, and yanking the older woman back into the living room. All through the house the deadly wind moved, and every electronic in the place was on the fritz. The TV blasted static at full volume, lamps flickered on and off, and the furniture decided to throw itself across the room.

As a sizable floral-print recliner smashed through the dry wall on Raleigh's left, both women let out startled cries. Anita looked back, watching the old woman, before turning back to her charge.

"We can't leave her!" She yelled, over the howling of the wind and the blaring stereo on the mantle.

"The fuck we can't!" Raleigh answered, forcing her whipping hair out of her face. "Look at her Anita, we can't save her anyway!"

Anita shot an irritated and confused look at her protege, before inspecting the old woman on the floor. The linoleum around her was being rapidly covered by a puddle of blood. Blood that all seemed to be coming from the sockets of Mrs. Montgomery's missing eyes. Anita shrieked as a huge gout of bile and blood shot out of the old biddy's mouth. With a snarled curse, Raleigh grabbed Anita, and hauled her out into the front lawn. The insane gust was getting more powerful, and by now the entire house was shaking. One by one, planks of wood fell from the siding, rapidly turning the magnificent old house into little more than a huge pile of lumber and rubble. The entire process took about a minute, and both of the investigators stood stunned for a moment before sirens sound dimly in the distance.

"Talk about bringing down the house," Raleigh said, quirking one corner of her lovely mouth snarkily.

"I guess one of the neighbors called the cops," Anita answered, still a bit dumbfounded. Raleigh raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as the cavalry arrived. The officers surrounded the pile of rubbish and the two women. One of them kept inquiring as to what happened, but Anita interrupted him as she showed him her badge.

"I'm Anita Blake, this is Raleigh Gallion," Anita said importantly as Raleigh waved her hand dismissively, staring at the once house. "We were investigating a paranormal case and things got out of hand. The client is still in the house...kind of. We are going to report the situation to our superiors. If you have any questions, talk to them."

Anita began to walk away, leaving the poor rookie officer stunned and confused. Upon discovering that Raleigh was still loitering, she snapped at her.

"Oh for God's sake! Get in the fucking car!"

Raleigh slowly turned around slowly and, being passive-aggressive, took her sweet time getting to the car.

"I swear I will leave you out in the middle of nowhere one of these days," Anita growled.

"Yeah right," Raleigh snorted cynically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raleigh and Anita stood in Burt's office while he gave them the most epic ass chewing of the century. His face was a deep scarlet and a deep, thick vein was throbbing in his forehead.

"You let the woman die?!" Burt bellowed in rage. " I can't believe that you allowed a client to die!"

"Burt," Raleigh began to explain.

"Shut up Raleigh! Neither one of you have any reason to talk!"

"No! You shut up Burt!" Raleigh snapped. Anita hung her head in disbelief as Burt's face paled. His mouth fell open and he struggled to regain composure.

"Fucking Christ!" Raleigh continued. Anita coughed politely to remind Raleigh of her faith. "I apologize Ms. Blake. I am sick and tired of your bullshit, Burt! All you ever do is bitch and moan unless somebody is throwing money at your feet. Even then you complain because you're too fucking fat to bend over and pick it all up!"

Anita stifled a laugh while Raleigh continued. "That ghost was pissed beyond all reason. That woman was dead as soon as she killed him. Do not pin this on us or so help me G...some sort of religious power... I will beat your head in with your fucking paperweight."