Tapestry of Whispers - Session 20

A Real Bear

“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you.
When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with,
but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

-Margery Williams Bianco, "The Velveteen Rabbit"

Image is from Ebay - Guess you could buy it if you want

As the veil of darkness receded, Daniel's first realization was his own survival; the pain that racked his body was a testament to that. Strangely enough, amidst that pain, there was also the unmistakable sensation of a hangover. The steady beeping of a heart monitor and the rhythmic dripping of an IV solution were the only sounds that accompanied his return to consciousness.

He attempted to shift his position, only to discover that he was pinned under a blanket that seemed to weigh twelve tons. A sharp sting in his left hand revealed an IV needle's presence. Air was being forced through a tube inserted in his nose. Tucked in the crook of his arm was an object; plush, furry, and oddly comforting.

As Daniel’s recollections of Boudreaux’s train party surged back, he realized that despite the significant pain, it wasn't as overwhelming as he anticipated. Battling to open his eyes, he was greeted by a flashback to his childhood—his mother Margaret's face looming over him. Just like in those early days, she beamed at him as his eyes fluttered open.

“Oh, thank God,” she said. He tried to move his head, but there was a neck brace holding it still. Picking up his arm, he saw a familiar shape nestled beside him - his childhood teddy bear, Buddy. Buddy wasn’t much to look at, just a battered brown bundle of cloth, but he stood out from other teddy bears with his blushing vinyl face and hands, and the ability to suck his thumb. Once upon a time, he had also had a baby bib, but that was long gone. Buddy was, quite simply, adorable.

Daniel received Buddy at the tender age of five, a gift from none other than Santa Claus at a kindergarten Christmas party. They became fast friends, inseparable. Night after night, Buddy stood vigilant against the monsters lurking under the bed and in the closet. He was the keeper of a little boy's deepest secrets, the silent comforter of his secret tears, and the companion in his moments of joy.

Daniel had held onto Buddy well beyond the age when most boys outgrow teddy bears. The bear always occupied a place of honor in Daniel's room, even after Daniel had set aside toys for good. Though he had nieces and nephews who wanted it, his mother had always kept the teddy bear for him. It had been years since he last saw Buddy, but it seemed as though he was exactly where he was meant to be.

Daniel finally mustered the strength to speak. He croaked out, "Buddy?" He was surprised that speaking hurt so little. A warm sensation emanated from the old toy, soothing his aching limbs and making him want to sleep again. Holding Buddy made him feel secure and safe again, just like when he was a child. He realized that it had been a long time since he had felt that way. He felt a tear roll down his cheek, and then another. He closed his eyes, letting the warm feeling wash over him.

"He thought you would need him," said his mother, prompting a scornful snort from the room's other occupant. Daniel's heart fell as he glimpsed his sister Heather's expression. A year younger than he and the jewel of the family, Heather had always outshone him in their parents' eyes. Her beauty and athletic prowess made her a star in sports and the center of attention at every social gathering, while he preferred the solitude of his room, engrossed in his books. She had been everyone's favorite, constantly reminding him of his place. Now that she had matured and realized the world didn't cater to her whims, her temper had only worsened.

"I told her not to bring that ratty old piece of crap," Heather remarked. As she reached for the teddy bear, Daniel clutched it even tighter. "Whatever," she muttered in annoyance.

Margaret turned on the TV in an attempt to change the subject. The KNOE anchors were talking about the accident, the death of Councilman Eustace Boudreaux, and the emergency election of his replacement. Daniel was surprised to see that Primo Blackwood was a candidate. Primo certainly didn’t look like he’d been in the same train wreck as Daniel had. Primo did have an opponent, described as a protégé of Boudreaux. Daniel wasn’t sure exactly what to do about any of that as he was not even in Boudreaux’s old district to vote on his replacement and he was currently looped out of his mind on painkillers.

While Daniel watched the news program, two nurses entered the room. Clearly they had not expected to deal with a conscious patient. They looked back and forth between him and his chart several times. They were perplexed that not only was he conscious but his injuries from the crash did not seem nearly as severe as the chart indicated.

One of the young ladies noticed the teddy bear that Daniel was still cuddling. "Aww," she said, "that's so cute." Daniel managed to control his embarrassment and told her that the toy was probably older than she was. He explained that it was his favorite as a child and that his mother had brought it to him hoping it would make him feel better, and it did.

As Daniel's mind began to work its way back to full consciousness, he remembered that Beth had also been in the accident and felt bad that he had not asked about her. He inquired about her condition, and the nurse told him that she was not as well off as he was. For some strange reason, Daniel felt that perhaps a visit from himself and Buddy might be just what she needed.

When Daniel asked if he could see Beth, the nurse seemed reluctant. She said she would have to ask Dr. Cross, and that Daniel probably shouldn't be up yet. Daniel protested, saying he would be fine and just wanted to see Beth. The nurse hesitated, then said she would see what she could do. A few minutes later, she returned and said the doctor had agreed to let Daniel visit Beth for a short time.

The nurses helped him into a wheelchair, and he and Margaret followed them to Beth’s room. Though heavily injured, Beth was awake and surprised to see him out of bed. She smiled to see him holding Buddy on his lap in the wheelchair. The nurses did not allow him to stay long, but after a quick squeeze of her hand and a smooch on the cheek, they took him back to his room and put him back into the bed.

Daniel was left alone with Margaret and Heather, waiting for Dr. Cross. He suddenly felt cold, and he pulled the blankets around him. Heather and Margaret also seemed to feel the chill, and Heather even went and slapped the air conditioner a few times. Suddenly, the lights flickered and dimmed, and a figure in a long coat and wide-brimmed hat appeared in the doorway. Heather and Margaret didn't see him, but Daniel recognized the ghostly interloper as Colonel Ebonshard.

"I don't exactly regret putting you in here," Ebonshard's eerie voice echoed from behind his mask. "But I am somewhat gratified to see you still on the living side of the Shroud. Better than what happened to a lot of them on that train." The masked figure stepped into the room, walking around Margaret and Heather. "I suppose they don't know what you can do, do they?" He waved a hand in front of Heather's face, but she seemed totally blind to his presence. "Perhaps that's for the best," he said, "for now."

Ebonshard moved to the side of the bed, started to touch Buddy and then drew back. “Hmm.” he said. “You know, I have served Ole Missus for almost two hundred years. Helped her feed the forge, did plenty of dirty work, before and after I was in my grave. I trust Ole Missus with my afterlife. But that Jeremy - there’s something there that’s dark, even for us.” Ebonshard shook his spectral head. “I admit it, I wrecked that train, same as I did the bridge when my Shadow took me. I’ve seen ghosts screaming in the forge. But I never saw anything like what Jeremy Benton did to those souls on that train.”

Ebonshard paced to the window. "It was Jeremy Benton who called the Shadow-Eaten and fed those souls to them," he said. "He did it all the while laughing like it was a picnic. Ole Missus doesn't believe me, of course. She's smitten with him just like she used to be when they were alive. She can't see the bad in him, but I can."

“I’ve seen him, eyeing my men like they’re the next to go,” Ebonshard continued. “And whatever he’s planning, I doubt they’ll be spared from it either. The Regiment didn’t believe me either, but I can tell you what I’ve seen. I’ve been… relieved… of my duties with Ole Missus, but my regiment remains behind. I reckon I will turn myself over to the Delta King. What he’ll do to me won’t be anything next to what Benton will do.”

Ebonshard moved toward the door. "I hope you're a much better wizard than you appear to be," he said. "I don't envy your chances. But I'll leave you with this: there are others in the Circle of Whispers who don't trust Benton, particularly the blacksmith who runs the soul forge. He has no love for her overseer. I don't know if that will help you any, but I hope it will. Otherwise, my Ole Missus will be next." As Ebonshard walked toward the door, the lights came back up and the air in the room warmed noticeably.

No sooner had Ebonshard left than Heather offered her own commentary on the events that had just transpired. “GOD,” she said in an exasperated tone, “This place is a DUMP!” Margaret agreed with her, but Daniel couldn’t help noticing how disturbed their mother appeared to be by the flickering lights and cold spots. Being able to see what made them didn’t put him any more at ease.

When Doctor Cross, the emergency room physician, finally appeared, he seemed just as perplexed as the nurses at Daniel’s recovery. “You shouldn’t even be conscious, let alone moving and talking. You had whiplash, a broken leg, a skull fracture and a collapsed lung that appear to be… totally gone now. I do not understand this.”

“Was it possible I wasn’t as badly hurt as you thought?” Daniel asked. The doctor shook his head.

“I examined you myself,” he said. “You were every inch as injured.”

“Maybe it was his teddy bear,” Heather snorted derisively. The doctor looked a bit surprised, and even picked up the bear for a moment, but did not look overly impressed with it.

“I think we’ll need to run some more tests,” he said with a wry smile, “before we attribute your recovery to a magic teddy bear.”

“My brother’s a real weirdo,” Heather told him. “He was always fooling around with Tarot cards and Ouija boards when we were kids.” She pronounced it “weejee boards”, partially because she knew it used to annoy him. He was surprised his sister even remembered that. “And he’s got all these weird books in Greek or something.” Margaret looked a bit surprised, and Daniel winced. He had tried hard to keep that side of his life from her.

“You do remember I went to seminary, right?” Daniel said. He explained to the doctor, “I have a lot of theological texts in Greek. And I outgrew any interest in the Ouija board a while ago.”

“Yeah, a stupid liberal seminary,” Heather groused, “That trains fake liberal preachers, and even those churches wouldn’t hire you. That’s how come you ended up working for the telephone company.” Daniel frowned angrily as he recalled the traumatic candidacy interviews. He had tried so hard to please the candidacy boards, only to be told he didn't have the right stuff. His paranormal interests had never even been a topic of discussion during the interviews. He’d have argued more about it, but he felt strangely apathetic right now.

Dr. Cross told Daniel that he would schedule more tests, then left the room. Heather crossed her arms, tossed her hair, and looked out the window. Margaret tried to smooth things over by saying that Daniel's seminary education had nothing to do with the train wreck, but Heather ignored her.

Daniel was feeling much better than he had any right to feel, but he knew that he and Beth would not be leaving the hospital anytime soon. He wondered what had happened to Chance and Victor. He couldn't imagine they had fared any better in the wreck than he, but he had no way of knowing for sure from his current situation. Once visiting hours were over, he was left alone with only Buddy for company.

Over the course of the next week, Daniel watched with disinterest the TV coverage of the council race. The tests that Dr. Cross had ordered proceeded apace, and of course Margaret stayed with him in his hospital room. Heather, on the other hand, seemed to want to spend as much time outside the room as possible.

Dr. Cross was even more mystified when he examined Daniel’s test results. Daniel's recovery was far more advanced than it had appeared even the first day. The neck brace and casts were removed, and Daniel was able to move about the hospital, though mainly confined to a wheelchair. Daniel was glad to be able to visit Beth in her hospital room, but he was concerned that her recovery was not progressing as quickly as his. He wondered if Buddy, the teddy bear he had carried with him since childhood, had something to do with his miraculous recovery.

Daniel learned that Chance and Victor had been at St. Francis as well, but both had been transferred to hospitals closer to home to facilitate their recovery. He was pleased to hear that they were doing well. While he was there, he overheard one of the nurses talking about a Mister Caldwell, and wondering if it could be the garrulous farmer he had met on the train. Daniel wheeled himself down the hallway to the room they had come out of. He intended to ask Zeke what the district might do after the death of Boudreax and what he thought of his would-be replacements.

Unfortunately, he encountered not a concerned family but a grieving one - Zeke Caldwell had succumbed to his injuries that very day, not an hour before. Daniel was saddened by the news and offered his condolences to the family. When the family saw him, and how apparently lightly he was injured in comparison to Zeke, they angrily chased him from the room and told him they would call security if he bothered them again. He then returned to his room, where he reflected on the events of the day and the loss of a fellow traveler.

Before long, Margaret and Heather arrived again. Things seemed a little strained between them, and Daniel could not understand what Heather’s problem was with his interest in the paranormal. It seemed to be causing a large problem, and he wasn’t sure how to fix it. For many years she’d never seemed to care.

Not long after they had arrived, though, Daniel began to feel the familiar cold, and once again the lights began to flicker. He felt the unmistakable tingle of a ghostly presence, now more easily detected since he had been off of painkillers for a few days. This time it wasn’t Ebonshard, but he heard heavy footsteps in the hall, and further away a door crashed open and someone began to scream.

Without thinking, Daniel tried to enter a meditative state and began praying in Greek. The exorcism would likely be

impossible without his ritual components, but he couldn't just let a ghost terrorize someone. Margaret walked out into the hall to investigate, but Heather remained in the room, a look of horror on her face. Try as he might, Daniel could not manifest the spell. Loud crashing noises came from down the hall, followed by a wet plop as the screaming stopped. The lights flickered, and Daniel saw a ghostly figure pass by the door.

When Daniel looked up, he saw a ghost standing in the doorway. The ghost resembled a 1920s construction worker, a big, burly man with a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry," the ghost said. "I didn't have anything against him. The voodoo man made me do it. I couldn't help it." With that, the ghost walked away, leaving Daniel to deal with Heather and Margaret.

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Heather’s face had blanched almost bone white. “What did you do?” she asked, voice hoarse with terror and rage.

“I tried to make it stop,” Daniel said. “I couldn’t.” With nothing else in the area, he grabbed Buddy and held it tighter. “It was-”

Margaret came back into the room looking as horrified as Heather. She told Daniel that a man down the hall had just died, and that she wanted him and Beth out of the hospital that day because the place wasn't safe. She went back out, shouting for Dr. Cross. Heather just glared at him. “You’re going to regret this,” she said coldly

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