by scifiguy3553
Now, to-date, all ten Paranormal ebooks by scifiguy3553, whom is Joseth Moore.
“19th & Emily,” “The Literary Virus,” “Custodial Science,” “The Starets’s Hunt,” “The Caregiver,” “Normal-PARA,” “There’s No Place Like Zone,” “Vengeance In 3D,” “Dead Silent,” and “Cousin Josh.”
EBOOK ONE:
April, Edan, & Dan Epp are an up and coming family in St. Louis, Missouri. Taking advantage of low house-prices after the Great Recession, the Epps purchase an historic house.
Little did April and Edan know, their son sneaks out a ouija board from their new home that belonged to the original owner! Paranormal phenomena begin to happen and an investigator helps out.
….....................................................
St. Louis, Missouri; USA. Present Day...
The Epp's dark-blue minivan pulled up on the curb closest to the only house they could find in the College Hill neighborhood at the price range for their working-class status—sturdy Craftsman, three stories with a wraparound porch; wooden floors predominating, and a decent-sized yard. April took a long look at the surrounding barrio; sparsely-developed, red-bricked houses, and little action that she could see. It was a far cry from the bustle of the family's current location at Boulevard Heights; nearly eight times the population as College Hill. But with the housing market still recovering from the Great Recession, the house was going at a fraction of what it should during normal market realities. After seeing it in the Post-Dispatch the other day, April had suggested to Edan to swing by with their son, Dan, and take a look at the house.
Christine Lotner, a latter middle-ager with spiky hair and trendy spectacles, warmly greeted them in the vestibule as two sets of families bid her their goodbyes. The wooden floors creaked with each step the Epps took, but that was expected with a hundred-year-old house. Otherwise, the floors had been recently re-waxed and the rest of the vintage setup in the house spoke to the Epp's love for the vintage genre.
“So, what do you guys do for a living,” Christine asked as she held back in the living room while April examined the kitchen. Their voices echoed, the house was so clean and sparse!
“Well, Edan's a maintenance supervisor at the airport—“
“Oh, good!”
“—and I'm a beautician.” April finished looking at the kitchen and joined the real estate agent in the living room; both standing in the middle while Edan and Dan passed by and went up the stair to the second floor. April noticed that Christine's demeanor showed a hint of hesitation, but could tell that she was trying to hide it. April knew that it was not simple chit-chat. The agent was trying to size up the couple and see if they were able to afford the historic house.
“Heard of April's Hair,” April asked conversationally.
Christine got where April was going and began to laugh. But there was no mistaking it; the agent seemed hopeful again. “The one downtown? Of course! So how does it feel to be your own boss?”
“Wish I had done it after graduating from Gateway High instead of going to university in Chicago. Just to get a useless liberal arts degree and then turn around and go to a community college as a middle-ager. I don't know...seems like I wasted time!”
“Well, you and Edan are here, now. You have your own business. Edan has a secured job. You're looking at this house as a family, so you've done something right, April.” Christine gently touched April on a shoulder and directed her to one of the living room chairs at the large coffee table. When they were both seated, Christine's face morphed into business-mode. “So, what's your guy's max you're looking to pay?”
“Dad, take a look at this,” Dan said excitedly from one of the two rooms on the second floor of the house.
Edan was in the mid-sized bathroom, admiring the claw-foot tub. “Alright, buddy. I'll be right there.”
“Whoever's trying to sell the house must like games...which is kind of weird, because I don't see a room here decorated for kids!”
Edan frowned at himself in the bathroom's mirror. “Dan...are you messing with the owner's things?”
Edan hurried to the master bedroom, where the theme was an old-world, nautical genre. There were a couple of ancient-styled globes, antique telescopes, and model boats from the Columbus era seasoning the bedroom...and in Dan's hands was a ouija board! An old one, Edan could tell. For the grain in the wood was darkened and scratched and there were no cute, stylized astrological icons on it, like one sees in modern reproductions!
“Dad...dad, what's wrong?”
Edan snapped out of his paralysis and quickly grabbed the board from his son's hands. He then frantically looked around the room, saw the large cabinet that was by the doorway; opened one of the middle drawers, and aggressively stuffed the ouija board under some t-shirts, socks, and underwear! Just as Edan shut the drawer, they could her April and the agent stomping up the stairs; their voices echoing. Dan tried to ask his father something, but Edan threw up a shushing gesture with one of his hands.
“What do you think so far, hon,” April asked as she peeped her head in. They were on the way to the third floor.
“I think it's great...what about you, Danny?”
Dan, as most tweenagers would likely do, simply followed along with his father's instruction that he silently gave with his eyes and the slightest of a nod of his head. “Yeah...i think it's pretty sweet.”
April gave a bit of a frown. “Everything ok, in here?”
“Yeah...just trying to make sure Mr. Epp, here, learns the etiquette of open houses!” Edan feigned a smile.
April's eyes cut to Dan, but Dan had already manufactured his smile as well by then. The two women continued up the stairs. When it was clear they were walking around on the third floor, Dan tried, once again, to ask his father of the matter.
“Let's go take a look at the yard again,” Edan said before Dan could ask anything.
Edan turned and headed for the stairs. Dan, for his part, looked back at the cabinet.
“Danny..?”
Dan sprinted over to the flight of stairs and followed his father down to go outside.
It took about two more months, but the Epps had received a call from Christine that they would get the house at Nineteenth and Emily. Fortunately for April she was her own boss. She was able to take a few days off from the salon to pack up their old house and begin the move. Edan had to go in, of course, being a supervisor at St. Louis International Airport. Some problems came up with a couple of planes, so he had to do a lot of over-time that particular week. But he still made it a point to help with the move after he got home.
Since it was late Summer and middle school had not yet started for Missouri public students, Dan was able to help April with the packing and then the unpacking at the new house. On this particular night, it was the mother-son team hard at work with the new house.
“We're going to need more cat food, mom,” Dan said as he tip-toed to reach the curled bag that was atop the refrigerator. The young
, gray cat rushed up to him and encircled Dan as he reached down and poured some food into the cat's dish.
“Ok, sweetheart...I'll text your father so he can grab some on the way home.” April was just finishing breaking down several boxes after the two of them had unloaded the van from their last trip for the day. She picked up a small box that contained her and her husband's things for their new master bedroom. “I'll be upstairs for just a few minutes.”
“Ok,” Dan said, somewhat absently as he stroked the cat.
Being a tweenie, Dan was just old enough to have his own smart phone. It was past his phone-curfew of nine o'clock by several minutes. Usually, Dan would have turned off his cell, but with all the action and excitement of moving he had left it on. He felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket.
“Oops,” he said to himself as he frantically reached to get it. Even a cell phone's vibration could be heard in another room and he did not want to risk losing the privilege of having one if his mother thought he was receiving a call from one of his friends this time at night!
Dan was going to skip the call until he noticed that there was no number in the caller identifier.
The cell kept vibrating.
April placed the items from the small box in different areas of the room. Since she and Edan had purchased furnishings to match their old house, parts of their new home would look a bit mix-matched until they got new things. April moved their tall Tiffany lamp, literally, to all four walls to see where it would go best in relation to their bed—still at the old house, and small nightstand. Then, where should the small flat-screen go? One would reason, opposite of the bed's headboard. But when she tried it, even the sleek flat-screen stand got in the way of the traffic flow that lead to their bathroom...she would have to wait until they bought new furnishings for the house.
She went back down the stairs and from the top-third of the stairs she saw that Dan had his cell phone to his ear while he stood stiffly in the middle of the living room. She had opened her mouth to scold him for violating hers and Edan's phone-curfew for Dan when she barely heard him speak.
“...please...please, just leave him al—“ He stopped when he heard one of the stairs squeak under April's footing. But April could tell by Dan's cell phone's light that whoever he was talking to had just hung up on him!
Nothing to lose at that point, April quickly made her way down the stairs and snatched Dan's cell phone from his hand. Surprisingly to April, he did not protest. She gestured the commands on the monitor for the phone to pull up the most recent call that was received on the smart phone...it showed that it was one of Dan's friends from their old neighborhood, and the call was made at 10:13 AM. Nearly twelve hours ago!
April's mind was temporarily stuck in the mud. She saw with her own eyes that Dan did not hang up on that call; nor did he touch any of the icons on the smart phone. But she knew that there was a call on the other end. She recognized the interface on Dan's phone since she had borrowed it a couple of times herself. In a word, he could not had faked the call.
April had gotten lost while trying to figure this out. She noticed that Dan was looking at her in an almost knowing way. As if he did not expect her to understand what was going on.
“Dan...who were you talking to?”
After a bit of a lingering time, he finally responded. “I don't know.”
“That's part of the reason why your father and I told you not to take calls this late at night!” She lowered her voice and gently rubbed one of Dan's shoulders, to let him know that she was more scared than mad at him. “Baby, you're old enough to understand that there are people out there who want to do some evil things to children.”
“It wasn't like that,” he said tersely; his eyes unblinking.
This, in turn, caused April to pause and think. “So you did know who it was?”
“No, I told you I didn't.”
A frown from April. “Ok, sweetheart. I honestly believe you. But, it sounded like you were kind of begging someone not to hurt someone else...?”
Dan finally broke his stare from his mother and looked at his cell. “Can I have my phone back, mom?”
She wanted to quickly shoot the idea down, but figured he was stressed enough for the night. Especially after spending all day helping her with moving to the new house. But before she handed it back to him, April checked the call history once more, and it was the same information she had read a few minutes ago.
Early the next day, Edan had to get ready for work. He was especially sleepy. He did not get home at the old house in Boulevard Heights until after ten because of the situation with the two planes parked at St. Louis International. One of the situation was resolved by his crew; the other plane had to stay over-night. Their bedroom in the old house seemed foreign to him, with the majority of the items already at Nineteenth and Emily street. Everywhere in the house it echoed a lot! Including the sounds of April getting ready in the bathroom down the hall. He could also hear Dan talking to Mouse, the family's cat, as he fed her near the kitchen.
“Hey, good morning,” April greeted her husband upon seeing him as she walked toward their bedroom from the bathroom. She was already dressed in her business-casual outfit for the salon; he was still in his jeans from last night.
They gave each other a quick kiss. “I thought you were taking a couple of days off to get some of the smaller things over to the house before we got the movers,” he asked as he walked to the bathroom and began to brush his teeth. Edan noticed that it took April a few seconds longer than it normally would for her to respond.
“Oh, we had a bit of an odd situation last night. I thought I'd give Danny a rest from moving and let him come with me to the shop...you had such a long day yesterday, I didn't want to bother you with it last night.”
By this time, Dan over-heard the conversation and had gone up to his father; the door to the bathroom yet opened as Edan finished brushing his teeth. April could see from down the hall that Dan whispered something to his father. There was a small pause from Edan, but then he seemed to acknowledged the information and tussled Dan's hair and let him go watch tv in his room while he waited for April. She was confused by their behavior, lately. Ever since last month, when they were still looking at the house on Emily, when April noticed that the two of them seemed to be holding something back from her...she wanted to press it with Edan, but she knew that it would just lead to an argument. Besides, they all had to hurry out of the house.
