by Lisa Coots
Serena's first trip to New Orleans was a disaster. The moment her feet touched the pavement in Jackson Square she was bombarded with memories. From one extreme to the other: love, pain, anger, lust. The flashes of emotions were unrelenting. Within a few hours of wandering the French Quarter, she was drained. Her acquaintances had assumed she was drunk and brought her back to the hotel where she spent the rest of the trip recovering.
The experience had taught her not to let it in all at once, but to focus and filter. Once she felt she had control, she went off in search of those old places filled with memories. Somehow she thought they were the key to finding whatever it was she was searching for. She didn't even know at the time. There was a longing in her soul that kept her searching for the magic. It was like a quest for knowledge. The unending trail of breadcrumbs that would lead to the elusive meaning of life. It led her down the path of spirituality.
For her, the relationship between music and movement was a sacred dance. Dance became her passion and her release. That dance ultimately lead to Mason. Working with a small troupe of belly dancers performing along the coast, the fateful dance had occurred at a restaurant owned by Mason's family.
The smoke from the incense danced before her as she remembered the jolt of recognition. Looking across the audience into his fierce gaze, her step had faltered. Her rhythm broken, she was transported into another time. The memory so clear. His skin, slick from perspiration, unyielding against hers. His mouth hot with desire leaving a trail of kisses down her stomach. His eyes, glowing in the firelight, as he looked up at her. His voice, smooth as silk. “You are mine. We are bound forever.”
Fighting to recover the dance, she had finished as gracefully as possible. Searching for him in the crowd, she thought maybe she was mistaken and had dreamed the whole thing. If he had been there, maybe he hadn't felt what she had. Disappointed, she gave up and went home.
Two days later, there he was waiting on the beach, where she had cast the spell and wished for him. At first she thought maybe it was just a coincidence, then he spoke.
“I came back for you.”
It had to be magic. It was magic. He was like her. Their attraction was undeniable and their passion for each other burned so hot it overwhelmed her. The first time they made love she was swept away to a different time on a wave of sensation like nothing she had ever experienced before.
Assuming her search was over, she happily helped him scout locations for his new venture, Spirit Catchers, Inc. He wanted her to be a member of their team and follow him to home base, which to her surprise meant back to Louisiana. All of the coincidences compelled her to believe in the magic. It wasn't until their arrival home that she learned he had ended his engagement with his fiancé Eva the night he saw her dance. To her, it was further proof they were meant to be.
“Rena?” His voice came from the foyer, slipping through the darkness and pulling her back to the present.
“I told you to use the service stairs.” Not bothering to hide her concern.
“I did.” Mason looked around anxiously. “I smell smoke.”
“It's just incense.”
“No, I get whiffs of smoke every now and then since the other night.”
“Did you tell Ben?” Sniffing the air around her, all she caught was the musky scent of Mason and the incense.
“Yeah, I mean not just now, but before, yes.” He ran a hand through his dark hair, pushing it from his forehead.
“He'll want to know.” Her voice sounded small and sad, even to her.
“Are you ok?”
“Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine.”
“I'm here if you need to talk.”
“I'm well aware that you are here.” She sighed heavily.
He crossed the room in darkness, and sat next to her. “We need to clear this up.”
“Mason, it's not a matter of saying words, you know that.”
“Mi Amor.” Reaching for her hand, he brought it softly to his face. “I'm here, love. I came back for you, remember?”
Letting herself remember, she caressed his face. The heat was instant, a flame of desire spread through her. Drawn like a magnet, her body turned instinctively towards him. The kiss was more than physical, it was magic. Their souls intertwined and rejoiced. Floating with the emotion, she let go, and let the feeling take over. Time slipped away.
Serena felt the house shift beneath her abruptly, jolting her back into her surroundings.
Mason felt when she pulled away and groaned. “No, no, no.”
“Mason, stop.”
Every part of his body was on fire for her. He gazed up at her through heavy lidded eyes. Not willing to let her go he caressed her thighs that straddled him. “Come back,” he purred.
“Mason,” she hissed, slapping at his hands and pulling at her skirt that was now bunched around her waist. “Did you feel that?”
“Always with you. All I can do is feel. You're like a drug to me.” His hand traveled up her leg again.
“No, the house.” Serena grabbed his wrist and held it still.
He immediately stilled, listening carefully to the darkness. Not sensing anything, he asked, “What did you feel?”
“The house. I can feel it sometimes. It's hard to explain.”
“I think I'm jealous, if it can distract you from me so easily.” Teasingly, he bucked his hips suggestively under her.
Ben cleared his throat from the foyer. “Guys? Ummm, hate to interrupt, but did something just happen?”
“Reuben, you are fast becoming my least favorite person on the planet.” Mason dropped his arms heavily on the sofa.
Serena gave him one last heated look, then climbed off of him. He heard movement then the soft glow of a candle surrounded them.
“What's going on Ben?” she asked worriedly.
“Readings just spiked.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere, it seemed.”
“I don't know. It felt different.” Serena turned back to him. “Mason, did you...”
“I didn't feel anything.” Aggravated he ran a hand through his hair. “Not the house, anyway.”
“The time?” Serena considered as she asked Ben.
“I got it. It just seemed like something had to be happening. I didn't hear anything up there, so I thought it was down here.”
“Something was happening down here, but it didn't concern you.” Mason sat up throwing a pillow from the sofa at Ben.
“Yeah.... Ok.” Catching it, Ben rolled his eyes at Mason. “I don't think you set off an EMF, Casanova.”
He gave Ben a smirk. “You'd be surprised.”
“Cut it out.” Serena grabbed the pillow from Ben and placed it back on the sofa. Sweeping her eyes over them, the gravity of moment stilled them and drew their attention. “The house. It's not like before. It thinks it was trying to get my attention.”
“There's no door slamming… No crying.” Ben listened, turning towards the foyer, meter in hand.
“Serena, you are definitely connected to this house.” Hearing the uncertainty in Serena's voice pained him. Wanting to reassure her, Mason got up from the sofa to hug her.
“But why can't I see it.” The desperation in Serena’s voice had him pacing trying to sense any activity.
“Stay off the stairs.”
He turned back to her smiling. “Yes, dear.”
“It's not her. I don't feel her, but I don't want to take the chance of him walking through you again.”
“I'll be more careful, I promise,” he admitted, walking back to her and planting a kiss on her forehead. “To be honest, I wasn't expecting anything like that. It caught me off guard.”
“No shit,” Ben muttered under his breath.
Mason stepped away from Serena, formulating a sarcastic answer to Ben's remark. His comeback was silenced by his vision suddenly wavering before him. The beeping meter sounded far away. Gasping, he put a hand out in front of him. The hand held a fist full of money. Not his hand. The room w
as familiar, the same room he was in, but he was seeing through someone else's eyes. A sound caught his attention. Serena's friend with the big blue eyes stood shivering in some kind of costume, her bruised face terrified. Something moved in his peripheral vision. He caught a glimpse of familiar bare feet before a splitting pain erupted in his skull. He went down, wood splintering beneath him.
Mason cried out falling to his hands and knees.
“Mace, what's wrong?” Ben asked quietly.
He looked from Ben's anxious face to Serena's worried one.
“Rena... It was you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He showed me. The money.... The other girl… You.” Putting his hand over his face, he groaned. “Did you kill him?”
“Mason, dude.” Ben's warning came too late.
“No, I didn't,” she hissed. “The more important question is, why are you so quick to accuse me? Without trust there's nothing for us.”
“He showed me.” Getting to his feet slowly, he shook his head again to clear the vision from his mind.
“I don't care.”
“Rena, wait.” He reached for her. She pushed him away.
“No! He came into my house, threatening me. He hurt my friend, and I wasn't about to let him do it again.” Her voice rose as the anger rolled off of her in waves. “He's lucky I didn't kill him.”
“Hey… Ummm. Let's calm down, and...” Ben tried to step between them.
Serena's glare stopped his suggestion cold. With a swish of her skirt, she wove her way between them and left the room.
The meter in Ben's hand sounded harshly again. Movement from the mantel caught their attention. A candlestick wobbled as if bumped by an unseen hand. It teetered close to the edge, rocking back and forth on its base, until finally working its way over the side. It crashed to the floor, and rolled on its side, finally coming to rest at Mason's feet.
CHAPTER 8
Mason had no trouble finding the diner. Cypress Point was not by any means a large town. After a slight hesitation, he had planned a meeting with Faith and Jake. Not one for waiting idly by, he felt he needed to do something. The house and Serena had been oddly quiet. She came and went without so much as a glance in his direction. He gave her space, not wanting to push. He couldn't blame her really. Her question had stumped him, but it did need an answer.
Why was he so ready to accuse her of stealing? Of murder? Good god. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, grimacing. The hurt on her face had pained him greatly. The anger, however, had frightened him a little. There was no doubt in his mind he loved her. He felt it with every fiber of his body and soul. Obviously, there were other issues yet to be uncovered.
In an attempt to help move things along, he set up the meeting with Faith and Jake away from the house. Questioning himself on whether or not he should have consulted Serena first, he shrugged off yet another wave of self-doubt and slammed the car door. Another mistake, he was sure. Stepping onto the sidewalk, he let his gaze travel across the quaint downtown area.
Cypress Point lounged casually in a picturesque grid of neat street-work before him. A closer look revealed subtle signs of decades of economic boom and bust. There were a handful of empty commercial buildings and the rough edged main street had more than its share of tar-sealed stress cracks and potholes. The summer heat had most people indoors.
The bell over the door jingled as he entered the diner. All eyes watched him curiously. Always the outsider, he smiled. A few heads nodded in acknowledgement, others looked away.
“Mason, over here,” Faith called out from a booth.
Questioningly, he gave a nod to the apron covering her clothes. “I thought we were going to talk.”
“Yeah, come sit. Can I get you anything first?”
“No, I'm fine.” Mason slid into the booth across from Jake who eyed him warily.
“What do you want?” Not bothering with a greeting, Jake obviously wanted to get straight to the point. From the thin layer of dust covering his clothes, Mason assumed he had come from work. By his attitude, he assumed Jake intended to return to his fields after their meeting.
“Jake,” Faith chided slipping into the seat next to him.
“Look, I understand this is weird for both of you. Serena is worried about everyone being at the house together. So I'm proposing a way to find out what happened there without involving everyone at the same time.”
“What do you mean?” Faith’s expression was curious as she leaned forward on the table.
“Hypnosis.” It was the only solution he had been able to come up with. Waiting for the ghost was unreasonable. He could control the sessions and hopefully get to the bottom of it quickly.
“What?” Jake’s surprised reaction was a welcome, but short lived change from the rank suspicion he had been sending Mason’s way.
“Sometimes, a past life regression is helpful in shedding light on current haunting events and why they are happening.” Mason tried to explain his reasoning for the suggestion. He knew most people would never consider voluntarily submitting themselves to hypnosis.
“Who would do it?” Faith asked sitting up a little straighter, biting on her lip.
“Me.”
“I don't know.” Placing his rough hands on the table in front of him, Jake shook his head unsurely.
“The female presence in the house has shown you pieces of her life already. You think she's looking for her child, but it's not clear. This may help.” Mason directed his argument to Faith.
Faith swallowed hard then nodded her head slowly.
“Can I be there?” Jake ran a hand through his hair. His request was a reluctant acceptance of Faith’s decision.
“I don't think that's a good idea considering your connection, but if you're willing we could do a session with you, too. Separately of course.”
“No way.” Jake’s raised voice caused a few heads to turn their way.
Faith took Jake’s hand, and whispered, “Look, we have to figure this out. Coeur du Bayou is important, not just to me, but Serena, too. If you think it'll help, I'll do it.”
When Jake started to protest, she squeezed his hand. “Jake, it'll be fine.”
“Ben and Serena will be present, to record and witness.”
“Witness?” Jake’s eyes narrowed on him.
“Just to verify. It's good to have more than one account.”
“I don't like it, but I want this to be over.” Looking down at their hands on the table, Jake shook his head again.
“Ok, I'd suggest we keep this private. No offense, but it's better without an audience. Too many distractions.”
Faith gave him a puzzled look.
“Your sister?”
“Oh, no, Elle had to go back home. And Claire is busy with the end of school this week.”
“I should go, and leave you two to talk this over.” Mason sat up preparing to leave the booth.
“I said I'd do it.”
“Ahh.” Mason took in Faith's determined expression, and Jake's concern. Covering their entwined hands with his, he tried to reassure them both. “Serena was very clear about one thing. All of you are very dear to her, and no one will be hurt. That's why I asked both of you here together. Nothing should come between you. Not even this.”
“And you and Serena?”
Pulling his hand back, he smiled at Faith sadly. “She never mentioned me, did she?”
“No.”
“Well, to answer your question, not even time has been able to keep us apart.” He slid from the booth, then looked back at them. “Let me know. You know where to find me.”
Putting his shades on, he headed back out into the bright sunshine. He knew everyone was watching the stranger. Another side effect of being so sensitive. Being different hadn't been as rough on him as it had been for Serena. He assumed it had to do with the money. Coming from a large family that owned a chain of restaurants, people had treated him differently. He had stopped caring what o
ther people thought of him at an early age. It simply didn't matter. Everything around him seemed to be infused with vibrations that no one else could see or feel. He loved being different; special.
His father had been a busy, distant man, and was never around much to notice Mason’s sensitivities. His mother, on the other hand, encouraged him to discuss and explore his experiences. His brothers, of course, ragged him about it endlessly. Being natural skeptics, they believed it was a middle child ploy for attention.
When he had decided to use his gifts to form a team, his older brother, Gabriel had jumped at the chance to prove him wrong. Joining the team, as the skeptic, he used logic and reason to balance things out. Reuben, although not related, had come aboard with his technical expertise, being a photographer, but it soon became apparent he had abilities of his own. When emotions were running high and getting out of hand, he had a knack for easing the tension with a joke or clever change of focus. His love of research and meticulous record keeping were invaluable to the team. His younger twin brothers were as different as night and day. Thaddeus, the older twin, was quiet and awkward while Sebastian, always the wild one, had a flare for drama, trouble and women. Even so, he had leapt at the chance to experience anything supernatural, while Thad had shied away from the project.
Mason thought his team was exceptional, but had no ambition other than helping people get to the bottom of their hauntings. Eva, on the other hand, had enough ambition for them all. Not content to sit through long nights of watching and waiting, she focused on building their name and their fame. Developing and producing their own paranormal investigation TV show had been her idea, but Sebastian's need for notoriety instantly kicked in. He quickly followed her lead.
Driving slowly through the town, he admired the lake front. People here seemed friendly enough. He received a few waves, and some double takes from townsfolk who didn't recognize him. He would have never pictured Serena settling here. Seeing her near the water was natural to him, he had just assumed it would be on a beach somewhere. Images of them in the sand came instantly to mind.
