The Curse of the Old Woods

by Elizabeth Andre

  “Me, too.”

  “I think if I was older or if she was younger, I’d bark like a dog if she asked me to,” Maya said. “She’s just got that vibe, you know.” Maya noticed Julie’s cheeks redden a little.

  “I know,” Julie said quietly.

  Chapter Six

  Meeting Katie

  Julie was glad and mad that so many people joined her and Maya for their second night of ghost hunting in Promontory Woods. Maya brought Steve and Penny. Steve brought his husband, Eddie, who used to help him out with his “special skills” before he went into semi-retirement. All Julie knew about him was that asking for more details about these so-called skills led to an instant change of subject. Julie’s brother Jason rounded out the ghost hunting party. With more people in the mix, the less likely it was that Maya would get any ideas about this outing being anything but business. More people, however, made it more challenging to make sure that it was Julie, or at least someone on her team, who found Katie first.

  The ghost hunters gathered at a point halfway through Katie’s final trail, a small opening in the trees with a view of the clear night sky. Julie and Maya did a briefing, making sure everyone knew what they were looking for and why. They talked about where they’d found minimal ghostly activity and how they needed to travel farther along Katie’s map to find her. Everyone made sure their flashlights worked. Some of them had night vision goggles or binoculars. Jason and Steve calibrated their EDIs.

  Night had taken the edge off of the hot June day. They had come prepared to camp out all night, although Maya made it clear that she wasn’t at all interested in sleeping outdoors.

  “I’ll do it if there’s no other choice, so I hope there are other choices,” Maya said.

  “Or that Katie the Ghost shows up soon,” Penny said.

  “She’ll be here,” Julie said. “I’ll find her.”

  Maya sighed and took a glass jar, a possible trap for Katie, out of her messenger bag. “You’re so sure. What makes you think you’ll find her tonight? And what makes you think you’ll be the one to find her?”

  Julie shrugged. Here was the moment when she could dazzle Maya with some brilliant insight or some knowledge gleaned from her longer experience in the game. Maya’s presence was like a misplaced wrench that tripped the gears of her brain.

  “Ghosts always show up. They want to be seen and heard.” She wished she could have said it more eloquently, but that would have to do for now.

  “Yeah. That’s what Steve told me, and it’s what I’ve learned over the past year,” Maya said.

  Julie realized she’d have to take another tack to impress Maya, if she wanted to impress Maya, and she wasn’t entirely sure that she did. She needed to find Katie first, to prove that she could find her without this partnership with Maya Mrs. Forcier had forced on her. She wanted Maya to go away, but then again she didn’t. She wanted to touch her.

  The group continued their trek until they stopped running into other people. It was too late and too dark. They were too deep into the woods. Their flashlights occasionally illuminated a furry creature, a raccoon or possum, but otherwise they were alone. At about 11:30, Steve and Jason reported that their EDI meters were giving readings that were off the charts at the same moment that Maya gasped. They had come into a small clearing. Maya pointed toward a clump of trees opposite them.

  “There!” she whispered.

  Julie’s gaze followed to where Maya’s finger was pointing.

  “There’s something there, guys,” Penny said. She pointed her camera toward it and double checked that it was recording.

  Julie couldn’t see anything, at least not yet. Maya moved slowly toward the clump of trees, and then Julie saw it—a yellowish light that shimmered. Julie didn’t want to blink for fear of it disappearing. She felt her heart hammering in her chest. No matter how long she hunted ghosts, it still excited her. She hoped it was Katie. It didn’t happen often, but occasionally she did find the wrong ghost.

  “Please stay,” Maya whispered to the shimmering light.

  Then, Julie saw what appeared to be a face in the shimmering light, although she couldn’t tell if it was Katie. Facial features sharpened and came into focus, but then they blurred and flickered.

  “Is it her?” Jason asked, sounding awestruck.

  “Can’t tell,” Penny said as she walked around trying to get the best shot.

  “It’s all right. We’re here to help you,” Maya said. She stretched her open palm toward the light.

  Julie took a few steps forward, so she was just to the right of Maya. “I don’t think she believes you,” she whispered.

  Steve paced around the clearing, still taking readings. “Whoever she, he, or it is, is giving off some incredible energy.”

  Then the shimmering light disappeared into the distance, like it had been sucked backwards by a vacuum. Maya broke into a run toward it.

  “Wait!” Julie said as she, too, started running. “Maya! Wait up!” Julie had to admit that her desire to beat Maya at ghost hunting was fading, but she was still as determined to find Katie as Maya was. She didn’t want anyone to ever doubt that, and Mrs. Forcier deserved closure.

  The others followed them. The uneven ground was free of large tree limbs but was littered with twigs that cracked under their feet. They also had to avoid a few low-hanging tree branches. Julie ducked under one and nearly ran right into Maya. She grabbed onto Maya’s shoulder to keep her balance when she came to a stop. Julie removed her hand as soon as she could, but Maya didn’t appear to notice it anyway.

  They stood in front of the shimmering light again, and this time there was definitely a face.

  “Are you Katherine Morey? Katie Morey?” Maya asked.

  The face did not respond, but the eyes could have been Katie’s. Julie took Katie’s photo out of her pocket. The ghost was definitely Katie.

  “My name is Maya. Your sister sent us. She’s been trying to find you.”

  At first, Julie thought the wind was playing tricks, but then she realized the air was still. Someone was speaking, very softly.

  “It’s been so long. Where’s Evelyn?” Katie sounded fearful and despairing. “Time is running out.”

  “Evelyn isn’t here, Katie. But she sent us to find you. She’s tried for so long to find you,” Maya said. “She misses you.”

  Katie didn’t respond. Julie heard only the sounds of the evening woods—an owl, the buzzing of insects, cricket song, and calls sent up by frogs in the distance. The sound had been turned down on the EDIs out of respect for the ghost, but even with the volume turned off they emitted a slight buzz as the guys collected more readings.

  Julie looked at Katie. She hadn’t aged since the photo, but Julie thought she saw Katie’s apparition wavering.

  “Please stay!” Julie said.

  “Who is that? Who else is here?” Katie asked.

  “Don’t be afraid, Katie. Please. It’s me, Maya, again. That was Julie. She’s here to help you, too. We all are.”

  “Help? I don’t need help now. Where’s Evelyn? Why isn’t she here? Time is running out. Soon, she’ll never be able to find me.”

  “Your sister is unwell, but she entrusted us to contact you. She empowered us to act on her behalf,” Maya said.

  A pause. Julie wasn’t sure if the streaks appearing on Katie’s cheeks were a play of the light or tears. The ghost let loose a scream that cut to Julie’s marrow.

  “You didn’t know?” said Maya.

  “There’s no more time for either one of us. She must come. She was always afraid of the woods,” Katie whispered. “Always afraid of the woods.”

  Katie’s ethereal form was getting increasingly difficult to discern.

  “Would you like to see her? Your sister?” Maya asked.

  “She won’t come. Always afraid of the woods, but she must come.”

  Katie had faded and was now merely a voice. Julie squinted but could see nothing.

  Jason said, “Her signature
is still here, but it’s really faint.”

  “Yeah, I’m getting the same thing,” Steve said.

  Julie and Maya stood next to each other in the darkness.

  “I want to see her. Will she come? Always afraid…”

  And then, even her voice was gone.

  “I got nothing,” Steve said as he scanned the area with his EDI.

  “Same here,” Jason said.

  “We’ll have to get Mrs. Forcier to come out here,” Julie said.

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Maya said.

  Penny trained her camera on Maya and Julie. “Do you think she’ll come? Katie the ghost sounded like there was no way her sister would set foot in the woods.”

  Maya shrugged. “Maybe Mrs. Forcier can be persuaded to come at the request of her long-lost sister.”

  “And what do you think Katie meant by saying there’s no more time?” asked Penny. “Maybe she knows her sister’s dying?”

  “I don’t know,” responded Julie. “But I’m going to find out.”

  Of the group, Jason and Penny seemed to be the only ones disappointed they weren’t going to spend the whole night in the woods.

  “What if she comes back?” Penny asked as she packed away her camera. “We should stay. I brought marshmallows to roast over a campfire.”

  “You’re such a Girl Scout, Pen,” Maya said.

  “Nah. She’s not coming back tonight. Or at least, she won’t come out and play with us again,” Steve switched off his EDI. “She got what she wanted from us.”

  Julie nodded. “Steve’s right. She has no reason to come out and haunt anyone again until her sister is here.”

  The group began the trek back through Promontory Woods. Jason and Steve talked about the merits and demerits of various paranormal investigation equipment. Julie and Maya walked side by side, not looking at each other. Penny talked about how she really wanted a new camera, and then, as they were leaving the woods, they saw a possible reason as to why Katie said she was running out of time.

  Jason tripped over it first, landing sprawled on the grass. It was the leg of a giant billboard they hadn’t noticed before. Julie shone her flashlight, illuminating the sign. A housing development was finally coming to Promontory Woods. According to the sign, digging started in a week.

  Penny started filming again, and Julie felt the need to be first to say something, both to impress Maya and, eventually, Mrs. Forcier.

  “Development may finally be happening in Promontory Woods,” Julie said toward the camera with the flashlight turned on and under her chin for dramatic lighting. “Katie said there wasn’t much time. She probably means that her resting place is about to be disturbed.”

  Julie thought she saw Maya duck her head so she wouldn’t see her smirking. Too late, Julie saw it. Clearly, she wasn’t impressing Maya.

  Steve made some ghostly sounds behind Julie who rolled her eyes in response. Maya gave a signal and Penny turned off the camera.

  “This is definitely another reason to find her fast,” said Julie to the group. Then she turned to Maya. “Let’s get together tomorrow and talk strategy.”

  “It’s a date,” said Maya.

  Chapter Seven

  Getting to know one another

  The next day Julie told herself continuously that Maya saying, “It’s a date” was just a figure of speech. They were going to meet at Candy Bar, the local lesbian watering hole, for a beer and some stale pretzels. They would discuss the case. They would discuss ways they could work together, so they would both achieve their goals. Julie would not let what was clearly a mild crush get in the way of business.

  Jason stopped by her place on his lunch break to share a sandwich. He started rolling his eyes more obviously after Julie insisted for the fifth time that tonight’s meeting with a competitor who she was being forced to work with was “just business.”

  “You really need to get laid,” he said.

  Almost on cue, Julie’s phone buzzed with a text from Gabi who tried to nonchalantly ask for some hang out time without making it seem like she wanted a booty call.

  “Although not that badly,” said Jason after Julie showed him her phone. “And that’s not who I’m talking about.”

  Julie knew who he was talking about and changed the subject. “Are you going to eat your pickle?”

  He pushed the green spear toward her and sat back in his chair.

  “So what’s our next step to find Katie and figure out what happened to her?” he asked.

  Julie’s teeth dug into the crisp pickle, and it snapped. This one was especially dilly and tart, without any sweetness.

  “I’m meeting with Maya tonight at the Candy Bar. We’ll work it out then.”

  Jason raised his eyebrows. “Good decision to choose the place where you’ve met your last three girlfriends for ‘just business.’”

  Julie threw what was left of the pickle at him and declared that lunch was now over. She had to get back to work.

  ****

  Julie had a problem with being chronically early and tonight was no exception. Maya wasn’t scheduled to show up for another 15 minutes at Candy Bar, so Julie got the chocolate porter she really liked and found a table in a quiet corner. She thought she’d go over the notes she’d written up from last night’s adventure, but her attempt at that was short circuited by the arrival of an acquaintance of hers, a woman who called herself Tanner. She looked, as usual, rather woebegone. The source of her melancholy was an ex-girlfriend who was costing her a lot of money. Tanner had started paying the ex-girlfriend’s college tuition when they were still dating and had continued to foot the bill after they had broken up a year ago. Julie was fascinated by this, as she, too, was still in thrall to an ex-girlfriend, the irresistible Gabi.

  As Tanner’s butt hit the seat opposite Julie, Julie smiled and let Tanner know that she could only chat for a few minutes because she was expecting someone.

  Tanner lit up. “A date? Is it a date? Wait. It’s not Gabi, is it? You haven’t fallen off the wagon, have you?”

  Julie shook her head. “No, it’s not Gabi and it’s not a date. It’s just business.”

  “Business? Is it a ghost?”

  Julie chuckled. “She’s definitely not a ghost.”

  “But it’s a woman.” Tanner’s brow furrowed comically. “Are you sure it’s not a date?”

  “Yes, I’m sure it’s not a date.”

  “All right. Well, is she hot?”

  Julie saw no reason not answer this question honestly. “Yeah, she is.”

  Tanner stood, beaming. “Okay. I’ll leave you to your business with a woman who’s hot and is not Gabi but is also not a date.”

  She put two fingers to her forehead in a mock salute and swaggered over to the bar, whistling tunelessly as she went. Julie couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Tanner so giddy. If she’d known that all it took to get her friend happy was telling her that she was meeting a woman who wasn’t Gabi, she’d have made something up several months ago. A giddy Tanner was much more fun than sad Tanner.

  Maya could arrive any minute. Julie wanted to exude an air of professionalism and competence, not an air of “I don’t want you to know that I’m sort of still hung up on my ex.” Julie lamented the fact that there didn’t seem to be a word in the English language that summed that feeling up succinctly.

  She’d barely had time to scan the first page of her notes when a familiar voice made her look up.

  “Hey there,” Maya said, smiling. “Is this seat taken?”

  “If you want it, you can have it. Please sit down.” Julie realized they were at the point where they weren’t friends, not quite partners, so keeping it professional was the way to go, but she also felt they were on the edge of flirting.

  Julie offered to get Maya a drink. Maya declined the offer, politely, and bought herself a pale ale.

  “Good job yesterday,” Julie said. “We’ll make a proper ghost hunter out of you yet.”

 
“A proper ghost hunter? Oh, thanks.” Maya rolled her eyes.

  Julie had meant it to sound like a compliment, but it appeared that wasn’t how Maya received it.

  “I didn’t mean that to sound jerky. I really do think you can be a proper ghost hunter someday.” Julie decided she should probably stop using the word proper so much.

  “I may not do this full time like you, yet, but I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on things,” Maya said.

  Today, Maya’s curls were held back by a gold headband, and her eyes sparkled with the shine from the Candy Bar’s decorative lighting.

  Focus, Julie told herself.

  As cute as she was, she was the competition. Julie made a full-time living as a paranormal investigator, albeit barely, and she wanted to keep her business. There weren’t many in her biz who could say the same. Maya had delayed their business meeting until tonight because she said she had to work a shift at Zaxy-Mart. She was like many paranormal investigators who were only able to afford to do it part-time or as a side gig.

  Chapter Eight

  Sharing a beer

  Maya was amused by Julie’s look of shock and pleasure on her face, like she didn’t know quite what to feel or what to express. Maya decided to change the subject before they tackled their reason for being there. She wanted to know about Julie’s choice of beer—a chocolate porter. Maya had never been fond of darker and bitterer beers like porters and stouts but had admiration for people who could enjoy them.

  “People always say that porters and stouts are acquired tastes, but I never had to acquire a taste for them. I liked them from the first time I tried them,” Julie said, licking the creamy froth off her upper lip and placing her glass back on the table.

  “This pale ale suits me fine,” Maya said, holding up her glass and letting the dim light from the table’s candle shine through the pale liquid. She half suspected Julie was flirting with her but reminded herself that Steve had said she already had a girlfriend. Besides, they were only here for business. They were just starting off with some small talk. No need to be serious all the time.

  Julie expressed gratitude that the place didn’t have a special event every night, like so many bars these days, and that tonight was one of those nights with nothing scheduled. In her opinion, too many bars these days had gotten caught up in trying to offer too much entertainment, as if drinking and hanging out were not enough.