I didn’t want to continue, but I felt Sierra’s hand on my shoulder. She was kneeling beside me. “What is it?”
“It’s not good. The truth is, Mr. Wayland liked watching them burn. He couldn’t explain it, and I don’t understand. It was kind of an open secret. His wife knew what he was doing, but she never interfered. She was too afraid of what he’d do to her own child. Her daughter was not his child. Now I have her…what’s her name…M…something.”
Sierra answered, “Her name was Molly. She died at a young age. There was a story about her in the Mobile Record. She went to an asylum when she was seventeen. There were no details about what happened, but she returned to Wayland Manor not long after she went to the asylum, and she was never seen again.”
Scribble, scribble. I wrote furiously in long, meaningless strokes and then in short, controlled syllables.
“Molly, is that you?” I sniffed as I felt a teardrop fall onto the paper. I flipped the page. “No,” I answered for her. “Not Molly. She’s not from here. She’s so small, and it happened so quickly. She fell, she was pushed, off the steps, no, off the ledge. She died in the house. The other girl killed her. Killed her, and she does not want to leave. She does not want to go. She likes it here, except for the emoi. That’s what she calls him. Jai! Jai! Jai! That’s her name. She was beautiful, such a beautiful child with red lips and pale skin. Her name was Jai!” I cried because I couldn’t help it. “What happened to her was wrong. Very wrong. No one saved her. He collected her.”
“Who? Who collected her?” Sierra asked, her hand on mine.
I’d stopped writing now; my fingers were cramping, and the connection was fading. “He did,” I replied, unsure what the true answer could possibly be.
“Mr. Wayland?”
“No,” I said with certainty. “He’s not here anymore. Mr. Wayland doesn’t come here, except when there are children around, but I don’t think he’s strong enough to harm them. I think he would like to see him, but he would not hurt them. He’s no danger. I can’t believe I am saying this, but he is really no danger.” I was shaking now, overcome with the feeling that horrible things were about to happen.
Sierra helped me to my feet. “Let’s take a five-minute break for water. Check the batteries on the handhelds. Look at Jericho’s flashlight. It’s about to go. Obviously, whatever is here is building strength, using our equipment. I say we go into the lion’s mouth.”
I knew what she was thinking. I gripped her hand desperately. “You can’t, Sierra. This emoi, we don’t know what it is or what it is capable of. Please, don’t do this.”
“Of course I am doing it. That’s my job, Macie. You did your part. Now it’s time for me to do mine. Break first.”
“Wait a second. What do you plan on doing, Sierra Kay?” Joshua asked unhappily.
With Jericho’s wimpy light taking the lead, we went back to the vehicles and grabbed snacks, water and batteries.
Fifteen minutes later, Sierra had Joshua convinced that her idea was the best one. The only one.
We returned to Wayland Manor, ready to dance with the devil, as Carmen put it. I wouldn’t have been as dramatic with my words, but it was as good a euphemism as any I’d heard.
We went inside and prepared for the remainder of night two. It would be a night I would never forget.
Chapter Fifteen—Sierra
I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Joshua was griping in my earpiece, and Jericho was thrusting a bottle of water in my hand as if I were going to be in this closet for longer than thirty minutes. Everyone had reservations, thanks in part to the video Macie recovered from our investigation, and also because we knew that a crematorium had been close to this house. Not to mention Macie’s horrific dream.
And here I was. Locked in a closet with a creature, for lack of a better word, that might end up being more like a maelstrom than anything else. I wanted to provoke it. I wanted it to know that it could not keep Jai and these other children captive here.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea, but Jai, the murdered girl, needed me. Even if she didn’t yet know it. “Thirty minutes is all I need. Don’t leave me in here. Is the camera rolling?” I asked Joshua with a big fake smile on my face.
“Sierra, please don’t push it. If you feel any kind of way, call it. I’m just a button push away. You know, why don’t you let Macie squeeze in there with you? Or Jericho?”
“It’s too small for two people, Joshua. Close the door and let’s start the countdown now. Thirty minutes is all I need.”
He closed the door, and I blinked against the darkness. The infrared camera would pick me up, along with anything else that was in the closet, but I saw none of it. For the first few minutes I focused on controlling my breathing and getting into the flow of things. After I got my fear under control as best I could, I decided to open.
Opening was important, but it was the easy part. Closing…not so much. Insistent negatives don’t like taking no for an answer. “Jai, it’s you, that I know. Do you want to talk to me? Jai? Can you hear me? I know you’ve tried to reach out to us before.”
Crickets. I put the digital recorder on the floor beside me. Patience, I reminded myself. I leaned against the wall of the closet. There wasn’t anything else in here except the bench behind the false wall. Nothing in here but me and my equipment. I glanced up at the camera. I don’t know why, but I felt like I needed to be assured again that they could see me.
“Can you see me?” I waved again.
Joshua’s smooth voice came across the radio. “I see you,” he answered, and I picked up on a hint of flirtation from him. Poor guy. We really needed to have a date night. With the way things were going on the home front, we strongly needed some time off just to hang out with Emily and each other. Okay, Sierra, get on with the business of opening. I closed my eyes and imagined pink light all around me. And in the pink light, I visualized love and affection. I wanted the otherworld to see me as warm and friendly.
When I felt satisfied, I whispered, “Starting my EVP session now. Jai? Are you here?” I waited a few seconds and asked another question. “Are you afraid? Are you alone?”
I waited again, but nothing was progressing. It was a little disappointing. This just went to prove that ghosts never behave the way you want them to. They never show up on cue. You can’t count on them. I played back the digital recorder hopefully, but there was nothing to hear.
Still undeterred, I said, “Let’s play a game. Knock once for yes and twice for no. Remember?” I set the digital recorder back down and, by the flashing red light, I could tell it was still rolling. “Is your name Jai? Are you trapped here?” No knocking. No answers. No nothing. I waited a solid 30 minutes and tried different techniques, but there was nothing I could do to encourage this being to speak to me.
“Dang it,” I said under my breath. This had seemed like such a great idea.
Carmen’s voice cracked over the radio. “Sierra, time to come out. Josh is coming.”
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and by the sound of them I knew Josh was alone. He opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Besides my feeling slightly claustrophobic, nothing had happened. Nothing at all.
“What’s your idea? I can’t believe I got nothing. Nothing on the camera either?”
Macie scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “Nope. Nothing at all and believe me I was studying the screen.”
“What’s your idea, Joshua?”
“We’ve talked about this before. Blindfolded Ovulis. To explain to Macie and Jericho: One person goes in another room, in this case, the closet, while the other stays outside. The person in the closet will wear a blindfold and headphones. The headphones are connected to the Ovulis. The person outside asks the questions, and the person inside answers them. It’s just repeating what you hear.”
“Please let me try it. I want to be the hearer.” Macie raised her hand as if we were in school again.
“Are you sure you understand how this
works?” I asked, feeling a little aggravated that Macie jumped ahead of me. I was glad she was so keen to try new things, but I had to be responsible for her. For everyone. “The person with the blindfold will repeat whatever the spirits are saying, and we record everything.”
Joshua began wiring Macie for the session. I guess it was decided. He said, “We have seen others using this technique with great success. Jericho, you want to ask the questions?”
“Heck yeah. I’ll just sit over here, a ways down the hall.”
“You can sit there or closer, it doesn’t matter. She won’t be able to hear you,” Joshua said confidently.
“I hope you have better luck than I did. Joshua and I have been wanting to try this technique for a while, so let’s do it.” I turned on the Ovulis, and we checked the levels.
Macie’s expression went dark. “Ugh, I already hear them speaking. There are a bunch of them.”
“It’s not too late to change your mind, Macie. I’ll sit in if you want.” I smiled at her.
“Nope. I’m doing it, Sierra. I’m ready.”
“I’ll tap your arm to let you know we’ve started and tap you again when we finish.”
“Okay,” she said in her naturally husky voice. She closed her eyes and tugged her leather coat closer to her. It did seem cold in here now. Maybe because we had the door open? Who knows?
Carmen greeted us as we came back downstairs. He was yawning like crazy. I reminded him there was coffee in the thermos. That’s when I detected a smell that I knew all too well. Whiskey, cheap whiskey. Was he drinking on the job?
“Got some. It’s not helping. Here, you want this seat, Joshua?”
“No, this is fine. Let’s watch that closet. Keep an eye on Macie, okay?”
“Watching with both eyes,” he said, his words slurring slightly. Joshua gave me the eye, and I rolled mine. Carmen didn’t seem too rattled about us knowing that he was drinking. Even if it was a probationary period, why would you drink at work? Yeah, I was kind of relieved. This gave me the chance to fire him with specific justification, not just, “Bye. You’re a jerk. You’ve got to go.”
We settled down beside each other, and Joshua radioed up to Jericho. “Get started when you’re ready.”
“Okay,” Jericho answered, but Macie was already talking. We’d left the closet door open—there was no sense in completely isolating her since she was already wearing a blindfold and headphones.
“Mama…” Macie said in a loud voice. It almost did not sound like her. “This is weird, you guys. There are several voices speaking at once.”
We couldn’t answer her, but she didn’t remove the blindfold. Jericho started asking questions. “Who am I speaking to you? Are you a child?”
“No!” Macie repeated what she heard. She turned her head back and forth as if she were caught in a conversation between two people. “Yes!”
Jericho insisted, “I want to speak to the child and no one else. Can you hear me? Are you here? Is your name Jai? Were you burned here? Did you die here at Wayland Manor?”
In a flat voice, Macie said, “She can’t answer.”
“Why? Why can’t she answer?” He sounded aggravated by the response.
“Ask another question.” Macie waved her hand and added, “Yuck. That was a weird voice. Kind of growly. Not a person. But let’s keep going.” She said that last bit less confidently than before. There’s no way to prepare anyone for the creep factor associated with these kinds of sessions, but it had to be done.
“No. You answer my question. I want to speak to the little girl that’s here. The girl named Jai. Jai, are you lost?”
His peaceful structured questioning was answered by Macie’s scream. “Get out! Get out!”
I watched on the monitor as Macie flung herself backward and tugged at the blindfold and headphones and scrambled out of the closet. By the time we got upstairs, she was shaking but not crying.
“You have no idea, no idea what’s going on here, do you?” Macie’s hair was a mess—probably from tearing off that blindfold. Her face was white, and she was rubbing her arms furiously. “That last comment wasn’t from me. Oh, no! I can still hear them in my head. How is that possible?”
I stepped forward and glanced around the room. With a stern expression on my face, I decided to formally close the session. “I close this session now, and you are no longer allowed to speak to Macie or any of us without our permission!”
With her hand in mine, I said, “Leave her alone!” After a few minutes of cajoling the spirits into behaving, they stopped their verbal assault and things went back to normal.
Macie appeared satisfied, happy that she was free. I didn’t know if I’d ever do that again. What happened in there? We gathered around the monitor ready to end this night of investigation. Naturally, Carmen was nowhere to be found. Not surprising. He came back as we began packing up, saying he had to go take a leak. I prayed he did so appropriately and not on the floor somewhere. And I also prayed that he didn’t steal anything. What was Joshua thinking inviting Carmen to come investigate with us? Oh well, it wasn’t his fault.
“What’s the plan, Sierra?” Jericho asked before we closed the van. We’d packed up most of the gear. When we came back, it wouldn’t require much equipment. I already knew how this needed to end. If it was possible to get rid of this spirit, we would, and that would not be done with light arrays and SLS cameras. There was no need to establish whether there was spirit activity here or not. We knew there was—the question was how to get rid of it.
“I’m going to meet with Amanda and give her an update on the investigation. We will show her the pictures of the contractor’s workmanship. That should be interesting. I’ll talk to Joshua more and review the evidence tomorrow. Everyone take tomorrow night off. We’ll come back on Friday night. Is that cool with everyone?” Carmen was wobbling toward the van with the keys in his hand. I added, “Joshua, you take the van. Macie and I will take our vehicle.”
“I think I can handle it,” Carmen barked back roughly.
“I don’t think you can. You aren’t driving my vehicle buzzed. See you at the office, Joshua.”
To his credit, Carmen kept his mouth shut until he got inside the van. He had a thing or two to say about me, I was quite sure. Anyway, I didn’t care. I was more worried about Macie. She’d had quite the night.
The first few minutes, she didn’t say a word. By the time we got to the end of the street, she was weeping. The dream was still fresh in her mind. She told me the whole thing this time and didn’t leave any parts out. She’d seen Jocelyn; her sister was trying to warn her. I didn’t know what to say.
As we drove, I thought about that night. Seeing Jocelyn’s face staring up at us, her mouth in a silent scream as she fell. That horrible thud. This couldn’t be the same spirit. It couldn’t be. No, it couldn’t. I didn’t even want to think about it.
But what if it was? What if the maelstrom followed us? What if it was coming after Macie?
When we parked outside the Gulf Coast Paranormal office, I held her. She cried, and so did I. I couldn’t believe it. I had to be wrong. I had to be. But was I willing to put her back in that position?
No. Hell no.
I would deal with the emoi myself. But I wouldn’t go alone. I’d have to bring in the big guns for this. I hoped she was available, and I hoped she said yes. Otherwise, tragedy would happen.
It wasn’t until early in the morning that I had a chance to call her. I didn’t even tell Joshua about it.
“Carrie Jo? Sorry for the early call, but I need your help with something…”
NIGHT THREE
Chapter Sixteen—Sierra
“This is like a paranormal ladies’ night, I guess. What are the guys going to do while we’re at Wayland Manor? Are they coming at all?” Macy’s expression was one of worry and fear.
I was eager to put her mind at rest. I was taking this extra step for her. I didn’t want anything to happen to my Macie. What would Jocely
n think if I let her sister get hurt?
“You could say that. I have invited a friend—her name is Carrie Jo. She has abilities that are much more honed than ours. She doesn’t normally do group investigations, but because we’re friends, I felt comfortable reaching out to her. She’s agreed to join us. Josh and Jericho are going over all the recorded audio and video before we present everything to Amanda tomorrow. I did talk to Amanda briefly. She wants to allow the Caretaker to stay, if he promises to behave himself, and she is firing the contractor. Before we wrap this investigation, we’ll tell the Caretaker the news. If he’s still grumbly, I’ll try to move him on.”
“Wise decision, I think. I mean, Taylor Construction really didn’t care about the house at all. Imagine leaving trash in the walls. And that Sheetrock? How old was it? I swear I saw a piece that had mold on it. It’s really disgusting. My dad is in construction, so I know a little. He would never have done something like that.”
I agreed with her, and we drove in silence to the house. Then Macie asked, “I noticed you didn’t mention Carmen. Is he out?” She grinned a little, her dark eyes sparkling with amusement. “Is he sober yet?”
“Heaven knows. Drinking on the job. Not cool. Say, how soon did you figure that out?”
“Right from the beginning. He had the attitude of an alcoholic. Unfortunately, I know what that’s like. I’m glad you voted him off the island. I didn’t have a good feeling about Carmen. I like Jericho, but I wonder if he’s too…what’s the word I’m looking for?”
“Softhearted? Inexperienced?”
“Softhearted, I think.”
I smiled at her. I didn’t bother to tell her that I found her softhearted too. “Over there! Carrie Jo!”
The petite woman was waiting outside, her car keys in her hand, a smile on her face. With an abundance of brown curls and vivid green eyes, she was as she always was—a good-hearted soul. She wore a cute romper with flat sandals.
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