Work Text:
I see Dead People
"Am I going crazy?" Blair asked himself. There were things going on around him that he had no way of answering other than to find the answer beyond what was taken to be known as scientific fact.
It first happened three months ago. He had walked into abandoned house that a murdered victim had been found in by two kids playing where they shouldn't have been. The murder had been torturous. A young man had been beaten and raped then left to die in the back room from his wounds.
Blair walked Jim through using his senses to check the scene, finding items to be bagged by forensics. Once done, Jim asked Blair to check out the rest of the house as he did his own work around the corpse. It had been a year since joining the force officially but Jim and Blair had an understanding. Blair still had a weak stomach when it came to working around butchered corpses.
While walking around the front rooms of the house, he heard a little voice say, "I saw him."
Turning, Blair saw a little girl in the corner dressed in a dress holding a patchwork doll. He looked carefully and saw that she shimmered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and reopened them. The child remained. Looking back to see if anyone was close by he moved closer to the child and sat on the floor.
He tried to be non threatening and he composed himself like he was going to meditate. He looked at her. "Can you describe him?"
"Big man, taller than you."
"What color skin?"
"Dark."
"Did he have hair?"
"Short hair, like your friend," she answered
"Was he built or skinny?"
"He was big, big arms, he could lift that man."
It gave a small start to what Blair would need to do.
"What's your name?"
"Emily."
"Pretty name. Why are you here?"
"This was my home."
"What happened Emily?"
"I died," she said simply. "I fell and next I knew I was looking at myself."
"Can you leave here?"
"I don't know. I'm scared."
"Let me see what I can do for you. I'll be back."
The child smiled at him, hugged her doll and glimmered away.
Blair sat for a moment wondering what he discovered, both in regards to the case and what had led him there.
Standing, he made his way back to the doorway to the back room.
"How ya' doing?" Blair asked.
"Almost done," Jim turned and looked at Blair. "You okay?"
"No," he answered honestly. "We need to talk when we get out of here."
"Okay." Jim looked over the room and nodded to Dan Wolf that he was done. Forensics had picked up the items Jim noted relevant to the case.
Jim took off his gloves and put them in the forensics waste bag then followed Blair out to the front of the house and outside.
Blair had driven them to the scene. A classic black mustang that they had found in the impound auction. It fit the bill of being an antique and could be easily maintained by Jim's standards.
They sat overlooking the park with drinks bought at the local fast food restaurant.
"Something weird happened back in that house," Blair told Jim.
"What happened?"
"I talked to a ghost."
Jim looked at him if it had been three years ago he would been skeptical of that revelation. But he had his own encounter. And with what Blair had been through, the drowning, and other near-death encounters, this didn't phase him.
Blair looked at Jim when he didn't comment. "It was a little girl. Her name is Emily. She told me it was a big dark man, with short hair like you, with a good build that brought him in."
"What about her?"
Blair shrugged. "I don't know. She's stuck there. She died there. She said she fell."
"We can look up details on the address."
"What do you think she needs?"
"I don't know. But she gave us something to go on to find the perp."
Blair took a sip of his tea. "You're taking this well."
"What do you want me to do? The Sandburg Zone no longer surprises me."
"I wonder if this has anything to do with the near death stuff or is it the shaman."
"Could be a one time thing too." Jim offered.
"That too," Blair agreed.
Jim looked at his watch. "We need to head in, see if Dan has anything to ID the victim and see what we can cooperate between the description you have and the victim.
They did get an ID on the victim and within a day found the murder who matched the description of the man Emily had given Blair.
Now three months later and three encounters done, Blair found himself watching an entity follow Jim around the room. They were looking for paperwork that a warrant had allowed them to search for.
"Jim." Blair called out.
Jim stopped and looked at Blair.
"We have someone that might be able to help us." He stepped into the room and looked at the shimmering image. "I'm Blair. We're looking for some papers that may be hidden away in here."
The entity smiled. "You can see me?"
"Yes."
"That is like cool. Daniel. There's a false wall over there." An arm shimmered, pointing to the far wall.
Blair moved to the bookcase. "Look at the book Tom Sawyer." Blair looked around and found the named book and pulled it out and panel opened.
Jim looked into the hidden compartment and found the reports that they were looking for. "Jackpot," he announced.
Blair looked back at Daniel. "Thank you."
Daniel smiled, "If it helps get that creep in jail."
"It will."
"Cool, I could use some new owners."
"What's your story?" Blair asked.
"Daniel Arthur. I was visiting a friend that lived here and was thrown from a horse. I died from my injuries upstairs."
"You can't leave?"
Daniel shook his head, "Can't seem to get beyond the boundaries of the yard. How can you see me?"
"I don't really know. I've had some near death experiences. Maybe I'm more open than most folks."
Daniel laughed. "Maybe." He looked back at Jim going through the papers. "See about a man name Jones, Daryl Jones. He came by a lot and knew about the wall and what was in there. They talked about them and what they were doing."
"Daryl Jones knew about the hiding place and the papers," Blair passed along.
Jim smiled at Blair. "That will be nice to question him about."
"Thank you Daniel. If I find out anything about your dilemma I'll help you."
"Thanks, and good luck getting him out of here."
Jim and Blair left the estate in the pick up truck. Blair looked out the side window not quite seeing the scenery go by.
"I think we need to find out what's going on Chief."
"What?" Blair turned to look at Jim.
"We need to find out why you're seeing spirits. I know you've been doing some research while you have time, but we need to find the answer."
"Maybe there isn't an answer. Maybe I'm supposed to see them to answer other questions."
"But you want to help them."
Blair shrugged his shoulders. "I need to meditate and find some people that can answer my questions and we both know those people aren't here in Cascade. I don't have the time to go away to find out what I'm seeing is all about."
"You know when it comes to money there is no problem and time, well, Simon has been asking if we need a break. Between the last two cases and you're past history, it's time to take a break. Where do you need to go to get your answers?"
Blair shook his head but answered. "I think Grey wolf can help me. I sent him a letter a while back, after Emily. He wrote back saying I need to spirit walk."
"Write him and we'll make arrangements."
"Jim I ..."
"You've denied who you are, you are a Shaman. You've given up a lot to be with me. You've seen things that no one has dared voiced. You have to follow through with this just like you followed through in helping me. There is a new level of help you can offer. Emily, Sabrina, Frank and now Daniel are waiting for you to find that answer."
"You believe me, you really believe me?" Blair asked.
"I believe you. You believed me some time ago."
Blair smiled as he turned to the window again. "I don't know how long we'll be."
"We got time Chief."
Blair started formulating his plan as Jim drove them back to the station on how he was going to find the answer to his spirit reaches.