Uncle Arber's Hat, Part III
Part Three
A noise dragged him from a fitful sleep. What was that? Soft footsteps?
“Rise and shine, sleepy head,” Josie said, though she kept her voice blessedly low. She flung back the drapes. Cold, gray light filled the space.
David’s head ached, and his neck had a kink. Images from the previous day, none of them particularly pleasant, flooded back. He sat up and rubbed his face.
“Morning,” he mumbled.
“Yep. It is. What’s for breakfast?”
“I… Not sure. Saturday’s usually my grocery day. How about I take us to breakfast?”
Faye, bundled in his robe and with her hair damp from the shower, padded into the living room. “Sounds good! J and I can scout around the building while you get yourself together.”
“Cool. There’s a sweet little cafe just a few blocks from here. We can walk.”
“Ordinarily, I’d be all in,” Josie said, “but it’s been raining off and on for hours, and we didn’t bring rain gear.”
“No problem. We’ll take my car.”
David hustled through his morning routine. He emerged from his room, pulling a sweatshirt over his head. Faye and Josie sat on the couch whispering. Their shoulders were hunched, and Faye’s left hand was closed in a tight fist.
“Hey, what’s wrong, guys?”
“Visitors… of an unfriendly sort,” Josie said.
“Now?”
Faye shook her head. “No. Last night. Good thing we were here.”
“We’ll set wards before we leave for breakfast,” Josie said.
“But last night… I thought you said we only had to worry about… about stuff at night.”
Faye’s smile looked forced. Worse, her face was pale. “After dark is the worst, but some of the baddies can come ‘round in the daytime too.” She gestured at the living room window. “Especially in weather like this.”
David felt a pang of worry. “So what do we do?”
“Sit tight, buddy. We’ll tighten the perimeter. It’ll only take a few minutes.”
Faye and Josie sprinkled things on the window sills. They pinned some old-looking medallions on the inside of his door. There were some muttered chants.
Josie walked up to him. “Stand up. Give me your hands, okay? Do not let go… or pull away.”
“Right.”
She grabbed his hands and shut her eyes. Nothing happened at first, and David started to feel silly. He cleared his throat.
“Hush,” she whispered. “Get ready… Here goes.”
Her hands grew warm, then suddenly hotter than human hands should ever be. David flinched and at the last second remembered her instructions. He gritted his teeth and hung on. After a long two or three minutes, Josie opened her eyes and nodded. She crossed to the door of his apartment. David was certain, well almost certain, that sparks jumped from Josie’s fingertips to the knob and deadbolt.
“Good,” Josie murmured. Her face was drawn, her eyes dull. “The locks know you now. That ought to slow down any unwanted visitors.”
“You okay?” he asked.
She brightened a little. “Coffee and breakfast’ll fix me up. I’m starved.”
Faye pointed toward the end table. “You should wear Arber’s hat.”
“Really? Well, okay, I guess.”
Once again, the old fedora settled into place like it belonged there. He grabbed his keys and a jacket and they headed down the portico toward the stairs.
They paused at the vestibule. The wind kicked up, blowing the rain sideways. Faye and Josie buttoned their coats.
“Why don’t you guys wait here,” David said. “I’ll get the car. No sense in—”
“Is it in plain sight?” Faye asked. “The car, I mean.”
He pointed. “Yeah. See? It’s the dark blue Prius.”
“Okay, thanks.” Just make sure to stay where we can see you.”
“It’s really that bad?” he asked.
They just looked at him. He shrugged and set out through the rain. When he got about fifteen feet from his car, Uncle Arber’s hat tightened, an almost painful band around his head. He halted, mid-stride. His scalp tingled. Prickles ran up and down his spine. He pushed the button on the key fob. Behind him, one of the women — Faye, he thought — yelled. He half turned and caught a glimpse of a police cruiser as it pulled into the lot.
There was another yell. Something grabbed his leg and jerked hard, pulling him off balance. He windmilled his arms but couldn’t quite get his feet under him. Over he went, and of course he landed in a rain-filled pothole. Cold water ran up his arms. “Well crap,” he muttered as he started to push himself up. The world whited out and an instant later, a blast sent him tumbling across the wet asphalt. All he could hear was ringing in his ears.
Pieces of metal and burning plastic fell all around. Something landed on him, knocking him flat. Again, he tried to push himself up. He caught sight of his car, or rather of the burning wreckage of it, and retched. All that came up was bile. He shook his head, trying to clear it, trying to figure out what to do. Somebody grabbed his arm, lifted him, and half-carried him away from the fire.
He got his legs under him, but they shook so badly that he was afraid they’d give out. They reached the apartment building’s vestibule. Faye and Josie were there. They had tears on their faces.
As the world came into better focus, David realized that a uniformed police officer had gotten him to safety. The guy was big, like a linebacker. His badge read “Ford.” The cop was talking, but David couldn’t make out the words. He pointed to his ears. “Can’t hear anything,” he yelled. “The blast…”
Officer Ford pointed to the building and raised his eyebrows. David nodded and took a few steps toward the stairs. He was still wobbly and was glad when Faye and Josie got on each side of him and helped him stay on his feet.
By the time they reached his apartment and David got it unlocked, the ringing in his ears had faded a little. He caught the sounds of approaching emergency vehicles.
“I think I can hear now,” he said. “Better, anyway.”
“I need you folks to stay in the apartment. The fire department and the bomb squad are on their way. I have to get back downstairs, but the paramedics’ll be up. Either I or another officer will be back too.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need a paramedic.”
Ford looked skeptical. “It’s your choice, but someone should check you over.”
“No, really, Officer. You got me out of danger. I was stunned for a minute, that’s all.
“We’ll stay with David,” Faye said, “and make sure he’s okay.”
Ford peered more closely at David. “David?” he asked. “That wouldn’t be David Dellarosa by any chance?”
“Yeah. That’s me,” David said.
“And that… that was your car?”
“Yeah. I don’t get it. How could it just blow up?”
“I’m afraid I have some bad news, Mr. Dellarosa. Your brother, his wife, and son were killed last night.”
David’s vision shrank down to a narrow tunnel. Suddenly, he couldn’t catch his breath. He staggered back, stumbled and sat down hard. “No. That’s not…”
Ford offered a steadying hand as he struggled to get his feet under him. “Take it easy, Mr. Dellarosa. We realize this must come as a terrible—”
“How… What happened?”
“Explosion and fire. We thought it was a faulty valve on a large barbecue. They were at your recently-deceased father’s home. But given what’s just happened here…” The big cop shook his head. “Quite a coincidence.”
“I don’t understand; I was there.”
“You were? When did you leave?”
“There was a reception at his house. After my father’s funeral. I didn’t feel up to it, so I came home.”
“Was there a falling out?”
“No. Nothing like that. I just…” David tried to focus. “Garth?” he asked, “and Emily and Kevin?”
“I’m afraid so. Actually there were multiple fatalities. We’re not yet sure how many. That winding, narrow road… by the time the fire department got there, the house was engulfed. And the gas explosions…” Officer Ford’s gaze swept over the living room, taking in the open boxes. “You going somewhere?” he asked.
“What? No. Why?”
“Packing boxes.”
“That’s stuff Garth wanted me to haul away.”
“Mind if I take a look?” Ford asked.
David shook his head. “Go for it. I need to sit down.”
Josie helped him to the sofa. He felt numb. Nothing made sense.
Faye cleared her throat. “We were looking through the boxes last night. Just something to do.”
The officer rifled through the boxes. “Financial records… and what looks like personal correspondence. Maybe some diaries.”
“Yes,” Faye said. “We think it’s from his grandparents’ generation.”
“Do all three of you live here?” Ford asked.
“No. Josie and I came over to stay with David… We didn’t want him to be alone last night.”
Ford was silent for a moment before turning back to the boxes. “And your brother wanted all this discarded?”
“Um, yeah. He did. There are some jigsaw puzzles too.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
“Why did you bring these things into your apartment?”
“I…” David’s voice trailed off. Suddenly it all seemed like too much trouble. He shook his head and stared at the floor.
Faye settled onto the couch next to David. She put her arm around his shoulders. It felt like a lifeline.
“He’s exhausted,” she said. “And bereaved. And, given all that’s happened, I think he’s in shock. Can you not push him?”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Ford said. “We need to ask questions. It’s our job. Last night there was a horrible fire with multiple fatalities. A few minutes ago, Mr. Dellarosa’s car exploded. We need to put the pieces together.”
“Even so—”
“I have to get downstairs, Mr. Dellarosa,” he said. “Someone will be up later to interview you. In the meantime, try to get some rest…” The big cop hesitated. “And be careful. Pay attention to your surroundings. You were remarkably lucky down there. Didn’t even lose your hat.”
His hat. Great Uncle Arber’s hat. David had forgotten he was still wearing it. He put his hand to the brim. As before, the hat clung for a second before releasing. He turned the hat over in his hands.
Faye stood. “Do you have a business card, Officer Ford? Any way we can get in touch if we need to?”
“Sure. Here you go.” Ford pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket. “I’ll see myself out. You folks take care.” He pulled the door shut.
“Well, at least he was real,” Josie whispered.
“Yeah. That’s why I asked for his card,” Faye said.
“Real?” David asked. “What do you mean?”
“He was human,” Josie said.
“What?!”
“Ssh. Keep your voice low. I meant just what I said; that cop is nothing more than what he seems: a person with a job to do. Not some weird thing that’s looking to feed on those few humans who still possess a little power.”
David’s hands shook. He flexed his fingers and ran his hands through his hair. “I… pushed the key fob. Then I tripped. Pretty lucky. Otherwise I’d be…” He shivered.
Faye sat next to him and took his hands in hers. Warmth seemed to flow into him. “It wasn’t luck, David,” she said.
“Huh?”
“It was Josie. Both of us felt the trigger. She reached out and tripped you.”
“From across the parking lot?”
Josie gave him a thin-lipped smile. “Yep. From across the parking lot. Pretty good, huh?”
“But how’d you—”
“We’ll talk later. But we really need to eat something.”
“There’s leftover pizza,” David said.
“No, thanks. Let me rummage around in your cupboards. There has to be something.” She stalked over to the kitchen and started opening doors. “Hmmm… Good. Okay, I’ve got it.”
“You want some help?” David asked.
Faye arched an eyebrow at him. “Lie back; put up your feet. We’ll talk more while we eat.”
“Breakfast in about half an hour,” Josie called.
After everything that had happened, David was surprised how good the prospect of food sounded. He levered himself off the couch. “Need any—”
“Put your hat on, David,” Faye hissed. She was staring at the door to his apartment.
“What?”
“Ssh. Your hat. Put it on. Now.” She snatched a magazine from David’s coffee table, rolled the magazine into a tight cylinder, and chanted in a strange language. It sounded like nonsense syllables, but all of a sudden, the air crackled with energy.
Heart pounding, he grabbed the old fedora from the coffee table. Once again, it felt weird how the hat seemed to snug into place… weird but good.
“Okay, so now what? Are we—”
Something struck the door, rattling it in its frame. Josie ran into the room just as a second, harder blow sprung the latch. The door slammed open. Dense fog poured into the apartment, and something leered at them from the threshold.
***** End of Part III *****
Please return next week for another installment!
Copyright © 2021, Michael C. Glaviano. All rights reserved.