Emily's House: Book 1 of the Akasha Chronicles

Chapter 22: Zombie Man Wakes Up

Chapter 22: Zombie Man Wakes Up

The day that his wife died, a large part of Liam Adams died too. Liam was like the stone foundation of a house, but Bridget was the fire that burned in the hearth. Without her passion for life fueling him, Liam reverted to the only other comfort he had ever known: Science.

Liam’s only family was his sister Muriel, fifteen years his senior. He’d asked Muriel to stay with him for a while and help him to care for Emily. In the wake of his grief, caring for his child felt like a burden he was unable to carry.

Muriel didn’t just stay a few weeks. She moved in permanently. And while Muriel chipped away at the beauty of both Liam’s house and daughter, he threw himself into his work in theoretical physics at the University of Chicago. He became a zombie of a man.

But on that day that everything changed, Liam was jolted out of his zombie state. He came home from work and found his sister sitting in their parlor, an ice pack on her head. Her bags were packed and arranged neatly by the front door. Liam walked to the chair where she sat and stood in front of her. Muriel didn’t look up at him as she handed him a note.

“I told you she's trouble,” Muriel snarled. “Probably on drugs or something. You should have seen her when she attacked me. Her eyes were wild. She looked hyped up on something.”

Liam said nothing and quickly scanned the note. He flopped his large frame into the worn chair across from Muriel and read it again. He searched each line for clues or hidden meaning.

“Was she with anyone?” he asked.

“Those two no-good friends of hers,” Muriel replied.

Liam looked up from the note and looked at his sister. As soon as he looked at her, she screwed her face into a look of pain.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Okay? Okay? That brat attacked me! No, I’m not okay. You need to call the police, Liam. She needs to learn a lesson. If you don’t nip this in the bud, she’ll run wild all over you.”

“Did she hit you?”

“Hit? Well no, not exactly hit.”

“Then how did you get that knot on your head? Did she push you?”

“No, she didn’t exactly push me.”

“Dammit Muriel, what happened here?”

“I always knew she was strange. Just like her mother.”

“Muriel, unless you want another lump on your head, you best leave off bad mouthing my wife and daughter.”

Muriel’s lips pursed tightly. Her ‘baby’ brother had never raised his voice at her or back talked her in any way.

“Just answer the question. Tell me how you got that lump,” he said.

Muriel, still stunned, obeyed the request. “Well, you’re not going to believe me. But she threw me.”

“You mean to tell me that Emily picked you up and threw you?”

“Well no, not exactly. Maybe threw isn’t the right word, but that’s what she did but without touching me. She looked at me with a crazed look and I was thrown backward. Twice. The second time I fell against the wall. That blasted frame fell, hit my head and knocked me out.”

It was Liam’s turn to stare off to the horizon in a dazed silence. Any other father probably would think his older sister was cracked, the bonk on the head giving her brain damage. But Liam knew something that Muriel didn’t know. Liam knew that his daughter had special talents.