by Rose Pressey
Unfortunately, there weren’t many places to pull over and my car was now starting to sputter. It was inevitably going to stop at any moment. I managed to pull over on the side of the road just a bit and out of the way. With no traffic at the moment though, that meant there was no help for me out here. I popped the hood and got out of the car.
I checked my phone and there was no signal. This meant a call for help was out of the question. What would I do now? Panic was setting in. My car had broken down and now I was stranded. That was reason enough to panic.
I peered around at the secluded area too. An abundance of trees meant plenty of places for someone to hide. What was I thinking? There was no one hiding out there. It wasn’t as if they knew I would be stranded. It was just a fluke. Nevertheless, the place was spooky. A shuffling noise came from somewhere behind me. I spun around with my heart beating faster. Thank goodness there was no one there. It was just an animal, I reminded myself. Nothing to freak out about.
I walked a bit away from the car to see if my phone would pick up a signal. Goosebumps prickled along my skin. It felt as if someone walked with me. I kept glancing over my shoulder, expecting someone to be back there, but no one was there. Also, my phone still wasn’t working. It looked as if I wasn’t going to get out of here any time soon. Either I would have to figure out what was wrong with the car or start walking, Neither of which seemed like a great option. Stranded on a spooky street all alone, great.
Standing in front of the hood, I peered down at the engine. Nothing seemed to be amiss. My father had shown me a little bit about cars, and it seemed as if maybe it had been overheating at first. Though there would be steam and there was no sign of that now. I checked the battery cables. They were secure. It hadn’t seemed as if the battery had run out. It showed that I had almost a full tank of gas, so I didn’t think it was anything to do with that. Unless I had a weak fuel pump.
I got back into the car and decided to give it another shot. I cranked the engine and it started immediately. What? This was crazy. Everything seemed to be completely fine. No problems at all. I suppose I’d better hurry and at least get a little bit farther down the road. Maybe I would reach a gas station if something else happened.
Once back out on the road, everything seemed fine still. Thank goodness. That whole situation had been extremely weird. I was glad to be headed away from that creepy area. Maybe it was one of those spooky events where cars seemed to stop for no reason and strand people in a weird area like some sort of time warp. Okay, I was letting my imagination get the better of me, but at least it kept me entertained for a while.
With no other events, about forty-five minutes later, I pulled up in front of the library. Yes, I was about an hour later than I thought. Only a couple hours remained until time for the library to close. I hated that it had happened this way, and I hoped the library board didn’t find out about it. They would think I did that kind of thing all the time.
Before pulling the key from the ignition, my phone rang. I thought I recognized the number. I didn’t want to answer, but I knew avoiding the call would only make things worse.
“Hello, Mrs. McMillian, how are you?” I said in a sweet tone.
“Never mind that. Where are you?” she snapped.
“At the library,” I said.
“I heard differently,” Mrs. McMillian said with irritation in her voice.
I suspected Jill had called Mrs. McMillian and told her that I hadn’t returned to the library yet. I’d have to speak with Jill about this.
“You were taking an entirely too long of a lunch break. I’m guessing this won’t happen again.”
“It wouldn’t be avoided. I apologize. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to work. Talk to you soon.” I ended the call before she had a chance to speak another word.
No doubt this would make her angry.
Grabbing the book, I got out of the car and headed for the door. I’d parked along the street this time because there had been no available parking spaces in the back. I clutched the book close to my chest. My prized possession.
Halfway up the path, I stumbled forward and landed on my face. I’d managed to stop the impact a bit with my arms. It was as if I’d hit an invisible wall or something. I had no idea I was that clumsy. I was in a bit of pain and not to mention this was a bit embarrassing too. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought for sure I’d seen something. A dark shadow perhaps.
Chapter 15
When I stepped into the library, I noticed immediately that the room was empty. Where was everyone? At this time of day, it usually was full of people. Even Tammy and the other assistants were nowhere in sight. This was kind of freaking me out.
I walked over to the reference desk and looked for any sign of a note. I glanced down the hallway to see if Tammy had gone back to my office or something. Still no sign of anyone. I walked over to the middle of the room and stood in front of one of the tables with my hands on my hips.
“Hello?” I called out.
My voice echoed around the room.
“Rip? Is that you?” The female voice whispered.
I glanced to the left and saw Tammy peeking out from the hallway.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I hurried over to her. “Why is the library empty and why are you hiding back there? What happened?”
“There’s a lot of spooky stuff going on in here, Rip,” Tammy whispered.
I glanced over my shoulder to see what she might be talking about. Everything was quiet and as peaceful as ever. No ghosts and no moving objects. No bad vibes either.
“Like what kind of stuff?” I asked.
“Unexplained sounds at first, like footsteps, but then books started moving. That’s when the patrons started to leave.”
“How many books?” I asked.
“Well, there were only a few.”
“That’s all it took for everyone to leave?”
“Pretty much,” she said.
“Where are the other assistants?” I asked.
“They left.”
“They left work?”
“No one was here so I told them to go ahead and go.”
“All right, I suppose that was for the best,” I said. “What about Jane Austen?”
“I think she’s hiding out somewhere on the first floor. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. That was what caught my attention at first. Of course, no one was there. Do you think the portal is open again?”
“Well, it’s always a possibility,” I said. “I’m sorry I was gone so long.”
“No problem,” Tammy said with a nervous laugh. “As you can see, I have everything under control.”
“I think it’s safe for you to come out from hiding now. Everything seems to have calmed down. I don’t even sense anything,” I said. “You know me, I can sense when the ghosts are around. Most of the time at least.”
Tammy glanced over my shoulder. “I suppose it’s safe, but we need to nip this in the bud. If something else is going to happen I don’t want it to get out of hand again. Remember the last time the books were flying in the air. Somebody might get hurt.”
“I agree with you completely on that,” I said.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and helped guide her back toward the reference desk. We’d only made it halfway there when the sound of a chair moving caught our attention. I glanced to the left and spotted the chair moving across the floor by unseen hands.
“Oh, my heavens to Betsy,” Tammy said. “See I knew it wasn’t over.”
“Okay, try not to panic,” I said. “Just stay calm. The ghosts feed on fear, you know.”
Just then another chair moved. It slid across the floor as if someone wanted to sit down.
“Maybe we should just get out of here for the day. Close early.”
“And then what? We have to come back tomorrow. We have to stand up to these ghosts. Whoever you are, get out,” I yelled.
The chair had stopped moving.
“S
ee, maybe that helped. They know that we’re not going to tolerate this.”
“Forgive me for still being skeptical,” Tammy said.
I suppose it was all right if she went ahead and left. I doubted anyone else would come in and if they came in and saw the chairs moving, they’d probably leave.
“If you want to go ahead and go that’s fine,” I said.
“Not without you,” she said, clutching my arm.
“I’ve dealt with this stuff before. I’m perfectly fine with staying alone.”
Yes, I was scared but I had to suck it up and deal with it because this was my job.
I retrieved Tammy’s purse from under the desk. “Everything will be just fine. You go ahead and leave. I’ll call you the minute I step out of here. And of course, I’ll see you at the tavern before long.”
“All right,” she said hesitantly. “If you’re sure?”
“I’m absolutely positive,” I said. “I think Brannon will be here soon. I have something to show him.”
“What’s that?” she asked as she held her purse to her chest as if it was a ghost shield.
“I found a book in all that stuff in Nashville,” I said.
Maybe I shouldn’t tell her what kind of book.
“What kind of book?”
“Well, it’s a book with stuff from Josh’s aunt and I think it might give us a clue about the haunting and his murder.”
“I certainly hope so. I just want this stuff to stop.”
“Be careful out there,” I said as Tammy walked toward the door.
She paused just before stepping outside. “Are you sure you’ll be all right here?”
“I’m fine. Go.” I waved my hand. “But be careful out there, though. We still have the unknown attacker possibly around.”
She grimaced and then stepped outside. After Tammy walked out of the library, I stood there wondering what to do next. Why had I decided to be here all alone? A noise came from the left. I hoped it was Jane Austen or Annie, but I still hadn’t spotted them. When I turned back around to look across the library, I let out a startled gasp. The chairs were perched on top of the table. They hadn’t made a noise, but somehow unseen hands had put them up there. Of course, now the adrenaline was truly pumping.
“That’s not a funny joke,” I called out.
Maybe this was time for me to get out of here. The library board wouldn’t be happy if I closed early because of ghostly hauntings. They didn’t like that stuff to begin with and now I was only making it worse. More movement caught my attention. Thank goodness this time it was Brannon as he stepped into the library. Immediately he noticed my startled look.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he hurried over.
I pointed toward the chairs on top of the table.
His eyes widened. “Did you do that?”
I shook my head. “No, I did not. Apparently, somebody wants to play games.”
“Is this the surprise you have for me?” he asked.
“No, the surprise is this.” I handed him the book. “It’s conjuring spells and it was Josh’s aunt’s book. Now we know why they had haunted items and that’s why they had to get rid of them.”
“Why would she have this?” he asked.
“That’s what I want to find out.”
I took the book from him and placed it back on the counter. “Come on, help me take these chairs down. Though I hope they don’t just put them right back up.”
“The ghost of the murdered guy did this?” Brannon asked.
“I don’t know who did this. Apparently, a mischievous ghost has been playing pranks since I left the library earlier,” I said.
“It’s likely the new ghost then. Maybe he’s gone for now. It takes a lot of energy to do something like this and I doubt that he had enough to do something else for quite a while.”
“So we’ll be safe probably until tomorrow,” I said. “Maybe I should check out that portal and see if there’s anything strange, like misty stuff going on or a strange glow coming from the area. All that can be a sign that it might be open again.”
“We can take a look,” he said.
“I just don’t think Josh would be responsible for this.”
After we placed the chairs on the floor again, we headed over to the spot on the wall that was the location for the portal. Surprisingly, nothing was amiss. It all looked exactly as it had before. Of course, that wasn’t confirmation that nothing was going on with the portal, but it usually had been in the past.
“It looks like I need to call Porter. I wanted to call him anyway and show him that book,” I said.
Porter had extensive experience as a demonologist. He’d helped me out of quite a few paranormal jams.
“That’s probably the best idea,” Brannon said.
“In the meantime, I still want to talk to Josh, but he’s been hiding out. Maybe he’s hiding because he’s been a pest of a ghost.”
“Well, you know there’s one surefire way to get him to speak.”
I waved my hands. “Don’t say the Ouija board. You don’t like those things.”
“I don’t like them but, in this case, it might just be an emergency, and I can make an exception for that,” he said.
Brannon was making an exception for the Ouija board? This was unprecedented.
“You must think this is serious,” I said.
This was kind of scary for me because he’d never asked this quickly to use one in the past. It had always been the last recourse.
“I guess the sooner we do it the better,” Brannon said.
“I’m thinking about closing the library early,” I said.
“What will the library board say about that?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Yeah, they won’t like it, but no one’s here. Everyone was scared away.”
“What scared them away? The chairs?” Brannon asked.
“No, flying books. Well, moving books. I don’t think it takes much to scare the people away after all the stuff that’s going on here. I’m surprised we have any patrons at all.”
“It seems pretty quiet now though, so I’m guessing the ghost has gone for the evening,” he said.
Movement caught our attention. Someone had stepped through the front library doors, but I had a feeling this person wasn’t here for books. She was here to confront me. Kendra smiled when she saw us. I knew it wasn’t sincere.
I groaned. “What is she doing here?”
“I doubt to check out a book. I can talk to her,” Brannon said.
“No, don’t confront her just yet,” I said. “I want to see what she says or does. After all, if she’s truly here to get a book then I want her to do that. The library board would be mad if I kicked out a patron.”
“I think we both know that’s not her reason for visiting,” Brannon said.
“She’s got a lot of nerve, right?” I asked.
“If those chairs or books start moving again, she’ll leave,” Brannon said around a laugh.
I chuckled. “I’d love to see her reaction. That would be priceless.”
Chapter 16
Brannon and I stood by the reference desk and watched as the Kendra roamed around the library. She pretended to peruse the shelves, but I didn’t believe she was interested in checking out the latest bestselling thriller or steamy romance.
I suppose Kendra sensed us watching her because she glanced over a couple of times. She forced a smile as if she knew what she was doing. but how long were we going to allow her to do this? How long would she do it before she finally got to the point of her visit? Why didn’t she just ask me the questions? I knew what she wanted for me. I had no idea about the murder, and I’d told her that. So why was she still harassing me? Her behavior was odd. I’d never seen someone so persistent.
She moved around behind one of the stacks and I lost sight of her. I frowned and exchanged a look with Brannon.
“What is she doing?” I mouthed.
“I think it’s time that we asked,”
Brannon said in a lowered voice.
Brannon and I walked across the library floor. I wanted to hear this conversation. No way was I going to miss out. Finally, we spotted her by the side door. All of a sudden, she grabbed a book from the shelf, as if she hadn’t been up to something suspicious. What had she been doing over here?
“Oh, hello,” she said. “Just checking out the books.”
I couldn’t tell her that we were getting ready to close because technically there was still time left. However, I wanted to tell her to go away.
“Is there anything I can help you find?” I asked.
“No, I think I found what I’m looking for.” She held up the book.
A book about bathroom remodeling? That was what she was looking for? It seemed like an odd selection. She didn’t even have a library card. Was she going to sit down and read the book here?
“All right, Ms. Sims. Let’s just get to the point. We know you’re here to try to get information about the murder. Ms. Van Raden has told you she doesn’t have any information for you. If you would like to speak with the Police Department, feel free to stop by, but we have released as much as we can to the press.”
She frowned and I knew she was unhappy with what Brannon said.
She placed the book back on the shelf. “Well, I can see that I’m unwanted here at the library.”
“It’s not that. You can look at the books all you want, but you have to admit it is kind of strange for you to come in here after you’ve been harassing me.”
“Harassing you? I’m just trying to get to the truth. That’s my job. Finding the truth.”
“I don’t know what you mean by finding the truth,” I said.
“I think maybe it’s better that you leave,” Brannon said.
She glared at him and then at me. A second later she stomped around us and headed for the front of the library.
