Purgatech: Aaron's Terrible Realization

Chapter 13

"I don't know if there is any other way that I can say it, Jada. I would love to help but I just can't."

Omri had been trying unsuccessfully to fend off Jada's constant questioning since the van ride. Now, sitting in a booth at the front of the pizza parlor and waiting on our to go order, I could tell that he was getting a little frustrated.

"I get it man. I understand how it can be to have a jerk for a boss. Give him some space Jada, would you?" I winked at her over his shoulder as I said it. She hid her grin as she responded.

"Fine. I'm just worried. That's all." In a beautiful example of showmanship, Jada actually forced some tears to well up in her eyes. It was weird how I felt a response to her crying, even knowing that it was an act. It was hard to look at.

Omri was quiet. I could tell that he was trying not to make eye contact with Jada. Luckily, her misty eyes seemed to have an effect on him too. Now that he was a bit off balance, I decided to try a new tactic.

"Omri," I said. He looked at me, probably thankful for the excuse to turn away from Jada and her faux sorrow. "How about instead of asking questions, we tell you what we know?"

"Well..." he began. I followed up quickly, before he could get much else out.

"First, I was kicked out of a room for what seemed like no reason. There was some banging on the walls and then, after Sparks heard about it, I'm suddenly not allowed back in there."

Omri vaguely nodded. He was definitely more comfortable with this line of conversation than he had been with the questions but I could tell that he was still unsure of where I was going with my thoughts.

"Then," I continued, “I tried to get you to tell me anything at all about the situation. You told me Mary's name, by accident, of course, but I still really, really appreciate that."

No reason not to attempt a little flattery with the poor kid, right?

"Well," he said, "you know that I wasn't really supposed to do that."

"Oh, I know it. You didn't 'mean to'." I bumped his arm and dropped my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "But that's what friends are for, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess." The confusion on his face was kind of sad, but it was the only option that Jada and I had.

"Man, I'm really glad that you guys are friends," Jada said. "Maybe you can be my friend too?"

"Well, I mean, sure. I guess so," said Omri.

"Cool." Jada sat back and smiled. I continued with what we knew.

"So then we walk in and overhear this really weird conversation Turner was having with a guy named Slade."

Omri's eyes got wide but he didn't say anything.

"Sparks made such a big deal out of it that we sort of got the feeling that there was something secretive about it. We still have no idea who that guy was but we recognized the name from a statue in the park. He was the original owner of the house and guy who is responsible for the town."

"Yeah," Jada chimed in, "we were thinking that maybe Turner is somehow doing business with one of Slade's heirs?"

Omri didn't look at her or say anything. Instead, he investigated the seam on his jeans. I nodded at Jada so that he couldn't see. Things seemed to be going well.

"We knew that you weren't really supposed to share company information with us, so..."

"Or any information," Jada said. I told her to shut up with my eyes.

"So," I continued, "we went to the library. There was a very nice woman there who told us a story. It was all about the mill and the town and Henry Slade and his wife. Guess what she said his wife's name was."

He didn't have to guess, of course. He knew. I saw him mouth her name without making any sound.

"Yep, Mary. So you can see where all of this is starting to get a bit strange, can't you?"

Omri nodded his head.

"You know what?" Jada said. I found her looking at me and I could tell that whatever she was about to say was not part of an act.

"What?"

"I know who Turner was talking to." She looked at me and smiled. Then put a hand to her forehead. "It's so simple, how did we not see it before?"

"What do you mean you know?" I asked.

"The guy’s name was Slade because he is Slade. Not a descendent but Henry Slade himself."

Of course. She was right, why hadn't we seen it sooner? We knew that Purgatech was in the business of communicating with ghosts. Hell, we'd been doing it ourselves. And now, apparently, Turner was engaged in some sort of deal with a dead man.

"Order up!" yelled a fat woman behind the counter. Omri went to collect the pizzas and we made our way back to the van.

The ride back to Purgatech was a nonstop stream of brainstorming between Jada and myself.

"We need to remember what was going on," she said.

"Yeah, so Slade was complaining about how long things were taking. What is he so impatient for, though?"

"I don't know, I can't imagine what a living person could be planning that would interest a ghost."

"Me neither," I said. "But Turner made it sound like there were other's who tried to help them make this work. Who were the others, Omri?"

"Um..." was Omri's only response. He seemed to have reached a wall. I didn’t feel good about our chances of getting anything else out of him. Jada rolled her eyes and kept going.

"Well, who ever they were, they are gone now. The 'failed', whatever that means. But Turner said he thinks we can be the one's to pull it off. Do you think so?"

"I don't know," I said. "Would be a lot easier to guess if I knew what it was that we were supposed to be pulling off."

"Do you think it's a good thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think that these secret plans are good?" she asked.

"As opposed to evil?" I laughed. "This isn't some corny horror story, Jada. Of course it's good. Let's not forget that, as strange as they may be, this company and the people working for it are on the verge of bringing some incredible technology to the world."

"I guess," she said. "It just makes me a little nervous that we are in the dark for some reason."

"Yeah, I can see that. But I'm sure it's just like a procedural thing or something."

"Why don't we make sure?" Jada said.

"How?"

Jada smiled a smile that I'd learned to translate as 'troublemaking in progress'.

"Oh, boy," I said. She just nodded and smiled. "What are you on about, Jada?"

"Well, do you remember when Mary came up when they were talking?"

"Duh. They said something about her trying to scare me."

"No. Turner said that she 'reached out' to you." She just looked at me, like I was supposed to get it.

"I don't understand," I told her.

"Reaching out and scaring are two very different things. Scaring is just for fun. Reaching out to someone is when you actually have something you want to say.

"So.... I'm sorry, I still don't see the point."

"Wow, you really are dim. Are you not the least bit curious about what Mary was trying to say to you?"

"I don't know, I didn't really think about it, I guess."

"Shocker. The ghost of a woman who's husband locked her away in a room and who died mysteriously is trying to talk to you and that doesn't seem worth pondering?"

"Well, when you say it like that..." She did have a point. But what could Mary possibly want from me?

"So, what do we do?" I asked.

"Seeing as you have a tiny ghost translator in your pocket, I think the smartest thing would just be to go ask her what she wants."

"Yeah, but how are we going to get in there?"

"They didn't give you a key?"

I almost laughed out loud. "Of course, not. Have they given you any keys? They don't trust us any more than you trust a dog not to eat a steak you leave in his bowl. We aren't even allowed out of the house without supervision." I c****d my thumb at Omri.

"Fair," she said. She was eyeing Omri. "I bet I know who they do trust though. I bet I know exactly who has a key to get into Mary's room."

Omri must have felt her gaze. He looked over his shoulder and said, "No way. Sorry but that is absolutely out of the question."

"Ah, come on, man" she whined. "What would it take for me to convince you?"

"A million dollars."

"Yeah right. Literally no way for that to happen. What else you got?"

"Nothing. I'm not giving you the key. Turner would fire me for sure."

"But we're your friends, Omri," she pleaded.

"What good are friends if you don't have a job or place to live?" I supposed he had a point.

"Fine." Jada crossed her arms over her chest and flopped back in her seat. "We still have to find a way to get in there. She spent the rest of the trip back to the headquarters in a moody silence.

When we got back to the headquarters, Omri handed the pizzas to me and told me that he would be along with some drinks soon. Jada and I made our way to our bunkroom.

As I passed the door to what I now knew to be Mary's room, I couldn't help shivering. The idea of her cooped up in there, probably screaming herself hoarse and fighting to escape, was too much to take. I averted my eyes and slipped into our room.

Jada pushed, however, in front of Mary's door. She put a hand on the old wood and sighed deeply.

"What was that about," I asked, when she had joined me in our room.

"I just feel a lot of energy from that door. Especially now that we know what was going on in there."

"Tell me about it," I said. "I still can't see why they would put me in a room like that. With everything that happened, it seems a bit inappropriate."

"Yeah, but this house is so old that there probably isn't anywhere that hasn't been touched by some sort of tragedy."

I looked around the room. She had a point. It was like the house was getting creepier the longer we were here, instead of the other way around.

"Coke okay with everyone?" Omri asked as he came through the door. He was holding two cans and two cups of ice.

"Where is yours?" Jada asked.

"My what?"

"Your can of soda. Aren't you going to eat with us?" I was a bit surprised. I’d thought that she found Omri annoying. If I was confused, Omri was floored. He was fumbling for words.

"Um... well..."

"Go grab a drink! The food is getting cold," Jada said and flashed him a winning smile. Omri stood, rooted to the spot, for a moment longer. Then the moment broke and he took off to do as told. I could hear him taking the stairs two at a time.

"There is just no end to the surprises with you, is there?"

She smiled, proudly, and picked a piece of sausage off one of the pizzas laid out in front of us. Omri was back in no time and he chattered happily as we plowed our way through two extra large pizza's. We carried on some lazy conversation about nothing and relished our gorged bellies.

After awhile, Omri got up to leave.

"Wait," Jada called.

Omri turned around just in time to be swept up in a big hug by Jada. He looked as surprised as I felt.

"Thanks for taking us to get dinner. It was delicious. Turner never would have let us go without you."

She kissed him on the cheek and then dropped her arms and returned to her spot on the bed next to me.

"Goodnight," Omri said. He pulled the door shut behind him, even as his hand lifted to touch the spot where Jada's kiss had landed. It was as if he were checking to make sure his cheek were still there.

After he was gone I said, "What the hell, Jada?" I was caught between laughter and jealousy.

"A girl can have a little fun, can't she?" She was wearing a coy smile.

Then she lifted her hand and jingled a key in front of her face.

"Now, are you ready to talk to your old roommate, the crazy lady?"