by Rose Pressey
***
I hadn’t told Brannon about the confrontation with Darlene, but I had told him about helping the lawyer. He had offered to help me after work. I wasn’t sure how we would rid the space of the ghost. Or was there more than one ghost? I had no idea. I guess we were about to find out. Tammy had wanted to come along too. I wasn’t sure she was prepared for what might happen, but she claimed she could handle it.
Tammy and I walked out of the library together and across the street toward the old house.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked, looking both ways before crossing the road.
Tammy nodded, but the look in her eyes said differently. When we reached the house Brannon wasn’t there yet. I hoped that he showed up soon. I really didn’t want to do this alone. Sure Tammy was with me, but she wasn’t experienced with hauntings and paranormal activity. We stood on the front porch and waited for Brannon.
“Is he on the way?” Tammy asked.
I pulled out my phone. “I suppose I could text him.”
“You haven’t done that yet? What are you waiting for?”
“I don’t want him to think I’m too needy,” I said.
She tossed her hands up. “Now is not the time to worry about that. This is important. Life or death.”
“I didn’t think it was that bad, but I suppose I could go ahead.”
Just as I was typing the text, Tammy said, “Here he comes now.”
I released a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”
Brannon smiled when he saw me. He’d changed out of his uniform and wore jeans and a blue and white plaid long sleeve shirt.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked when he stepped up onto the porch.
I had to act as if I was calm and completely prepared. Who was I kidding? Brannon already knew how I felt.
I stood a little straighter though, trying to keep up the pretense. “Let’s do this.”
She had left the key under the flower pot by the front door. I reached under the clay pot and retrieved the key. I handed it to Brannon. It would be better if he went first and opened the door. After all, he was the one with the most experience. We each stepped into the house one by one.
Brannon pulled out his usual equipment. I had brought sage in the hopes that I could cleanse the building of any spirits. I’d done this in the past… sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. It was basically up to the spirits and if they were ready to move on or not.
Tammy stood close to me. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Does it look like I know what I’m doing?” I asked as I waved the burning sage around the room.
She coughed and waved her hand through the air. “Actually, not really.”
I thought I spotted a dark shadow dart around the corner down the hallway, but I didn’t mention it. Tammy was right beside me and I worried that I would scare her too badly if I mentioned the spirit.
Brannon was walking around the room with the digital recorder in his hand. I hoped that he got some kind of communication from the spirit that was hanging around this house. While he did that I walked around every room of the house with the sage. There was nothing more we could do.
Surprisingly, it did feel lighter now that I’d used sage for the rooms.
“Do you feel that?” I asked.
Tammy had already stepped over by the door, as if she was ready to race out of there when I said go. “I guess it feels a little lighter in here.”
Brannon shoved his equipment back into the bag. “I think we’ve done all that we can. I just hope that it works.”
Would she go back on her word if the spirits were still hanging around? Tammy hurried out the door first and I went next. Brannon locked the door and then placed the key back under the flower pot. We stepped off the porch and then stood on the sidewalk in front of the house.
“You did all you could, Rip,” Tammy said.
Yes, but was my all good enough?
Chapter 24
The next day Brannon was walking beside me as we left the library. “So how do you know this psychic?”
“Well, the woman who does my manicure at the salon has a friend who is friends with the psychic’s sister.”
He stared at me. Okay, that didn’t sound great. It sounded as if I might as well call one of the fake psychic phone numbers. We’d probably have the same results. It was all I had at the moment though, so I supposed it was better than nothing. I just wanted to get answers. We had to find out why the shadow spirit was attached to Brannon.
I gave Brannon the directions. After jumping in his car, we headed toward the psychic’s house. I leaned back in the leather passenger seat and tried to relax. It seemed that lately I had permanent anxiety. The passing scenery at least provided beauty that helped ease the stress somewhat. Leaves had started to fill the branches of the surrounding trees.
Tension oozed off Brannon in waves. It floated across the front of the car and settled in the air. I wanted to do whatever I could to help him. I wished I could talk to that spirit like I could with Annie. I looked down at my phone, wishing the thing would send me a text.
Brannon was focused on the road and lost in thought. I stared out the windshield too. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. At first, I thought it was a deer. I soon realized that this was much darker than a deer. It didn’t move like an animal either. Fear raced up my spine. Instantly I realized what it was. The thing was following us even on the road. Had it been in the car with us too? The shadow zoomed in front of the car. I didn’t have time to warn Brannon before it happened.
Brannon swerved the car in order to avoid it. That wouldn’t matter though because it looked as if we had just driven right through it. However, Brannon had accidentally steered the car into the ditch.
“Are you okay?” he asked when the car finally stopped.
I nodded, but was still in a bit of a daze. Finally I said, “I’m all right.”
“What was that?” he asked.
Brannon probably didn’t want to know the answer.
“It was the shadow?” His voice was almost a whisper.
“I’m afraid so.”
Brannon pulled the car away from the ditch. We were back on the road, but I didn’t feel safe. I didn’t know when the shadow might appear again.
Needless to say that experience had been terrifying. Brannon didn’t mention it, but I was sure the thing had wanted us to crash. Now I not only had to worry about the living killer but a spirit one too. I knew that Brannon was thinking the same thing.
I was on high alert for the rest of the trip. Luckily, we didn’t have much further to go until we reached the woman’s house. The next left was where we needed to turn. I wondered if part of that tension I’d felt earlier had really been from the spirit. It was a real possibility.
We pulled up in front of the house. It was an old Victorian that looked as if it had been abandoned years ago. A couple shutters had fallen off and the screen door was broken.
“Are you sure about this address?” Brannon asked when he cut the ignition.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
I wished that I could be a little more confident. Nevertheless, I wanted to hear what she had to say, but I was nervous at the same time. Brannon and I got out of the car and went up to the front door. Brannon rang the doorbell, but nothing happened. Next he knocked on the door and we waited.
“Coming,” the woman yelled from the other side of the door.
The tall and slender woman opened the door and ushered us inside. Her long white dress was a gauzy material and reached past her ankles. Her blonde hair was tied up in a twist. She peered at us with her big blue eyes.
“I called earlier about doing a reading,” I said as I looked around the room.
The house was dark inside, mostly because there was a lot of dark trim and most of the windows had the shades drawn. The parlor in the house had a lot of antique furnishings that matched the style of the home. She had a round woo
d table in the middle of the room with matching chairs sitting around it.
“Please have a seat around the table.” She gestured with a wave of her hand.
Brannon and I sat around the table. I wasn’t sure what to think. She was walking around the room gathering things, or maybe looking for something—I couldn’t tell for sure. No matter, she wasn’t paying much attention to us. Finally, she came over and placed the candles and herbs down. She didn’t look at us as she sat in the chair. She must have been super-focused. After lighting the candles, she placed the cards on the table in front of us. Finally, she looked up at us.
After a couple seconds, she turned her attention to Brannon. “You are the one in need of help?”
He looked a little confused at first. Then he said, “Yes.”
He didn’t sound confident in his answer. I shook my head in case she needed more reassurance. She shuffled through the cards again and then motioned for Brannon to pick from the cards. Brannon exchanged a look with me. I gestured with a tilt of my head. He reached out and selected three cards like she had asked. She turned the cards over and studied them.
Finally, she nodded and looked at Brannon. “Just as I thought. There are a lot of ghosts. I see them surrounding.”
“Are they surrounding Brannon?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not all of them.”
“But there are some ghosts with him?” I asked.
“There’s just one with him now. It’s outside now, trying to get in. I’m trying to keep it out, but it’s hard. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to have you here long.”
“Can’t you get it to leave? That was kind of the whole point why we came here.” I knew there was a ghost, now I needed to know how to get rid of it.
She gathered the cards. “It’s not leaving.”
That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear.
“What can we do?” She had to have an answer.
“You have to find where they followed you from. Once you do that then you will have to take them back to that location.”
I stared at her. How was I supposed to do that? That seemed impossible. Didn’t she have any tips for this?
“There are several places that he could have gotten the attachment,” I said.
“Then I suppose you will have to return to each of those locations.”
I was afraid she would say that. Maybe we would get lucky and find the location right away. I knew that Brannon felt they had come from the asylum. I felt that way too. I supposed this was the end of our session. I wished we had more answers.
She stared at us and we took the hint that it was time to leave. She looked as if she was nervous now. The spirit must be trying to get in. That meant it was probably waiting for us outside.
I pushed to my feet. “Thanks for your help.”
She walked us to the door. “Be safe out there.”
That only added to my fear. It was as if she knew something we didn’t know. After all, she was a psychic. Brannon and I stepped outside and headed toward the car.
“I thought she would have more advice,” Brannon said as he opened the car door for me.
I slid into the car. “Sorry she wasn’t more help.” I felt responsible since I was the one who’d brought him here.
Brannon got into the driver’s side. “It’s not your fault. Hey, at least you tried. I appreciate that more than you know.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek.
My stomach flipped. She was watching us from the window.
Brannon started the car. “I guess we should get out of here. I think she wants us gone.”
Brannon backed out of the driveway.
“Anything unusual happen at the places you’ve been lately?” I asked.
“A couple of private residences and then my friend Brent and I went to that graveyard over in Bloomfield.”
“Oh, yes, I remember that. It could have happened there,” I said.
“So it has to be either the asylum or the graveyard.” Brannon had his hands firmly on the steering wheel.
“I think it’s definitely the asylum. There are so many spirits there. It does seem likely you’d pick up something there.”
Silence filled the car. I had to think of something to get us out of this situation.
I tapped my fingers against the car’s leather seat. “I suppose we will have to make a list and go to each place.”
Brannon stared at the road ahead. I was sure he was still tense and waiting for that shadow to pop out on the road again. I was on edge waiting for it too. I knew by Brannon’s silence that he was hesitant about my idea. How else would we find out the truth though?
Finally, I said, “Do you think there’s an easier way?”
“Unfortunately, nothing is easy when dealing with the paranormal. My instincts tell me that the spirit is from the asylum. I need to invent a device that will help get rid of the spirit.”
Brannon loved working on different paranormal inventions. It was a bit of a passion for him to develop these things. However, coming up with something to get rid of this attachment seemed nearly impossible.
Chapter 25
I was busy at work when Tammy poked me in the side. She gestured toward the computer station. “When did she come in?”
Jeanette was sitting in front of one of the computers.
“I have no idea. I never saw her come in.” I looked over at Monica. “Did you see Jeanette come in?”
She looked in that direction. “Nope.”
Tammy rolled her eyes. “We should go over and talk with her.”
“What would we say?” I asked.
Ask if she knows who murdered Alex. Annie sent the text.
I hadn’t even realized Annie was standing beside us. With the cold air that followed her, I should have noticed. I supposed I was distracted though.
“I wish it was that easy,” I said. “Okay. We can sneak over. We’ll be stealthy.”
Be careful, Annie said.
I motioned for Tammy to follow me around the mystery section.
“It will be easier to sneak up on her and see what she’s doing if we go this way,” I whispered.
I wasn’t sure why we were sneaking. I would have a good excuse for being in the library. Jeanette had to know that she’d probably see me here. I stopped at the edge of the aisle. After a few seconds, I motioned that we should peek around and see what she was doing.
Unfortunately, as soon as we looked around the edge of the stack, Jeanette got up from the chair and walked away. We hurried to the end so we could watch where she was going. If we saw someone else running like that in the library we’d tell them to slow down. We should be ashamed of that behavior. We caught her just in time to see her walk out the door.
“Well, so much for that,” Tammy said.
Annie sent a text. The computer is still on.
When I glanced over, Annie was still by the computers.
“Good job, Annie,” I said. “Annie says the computer is still logged in from whatever she was doing.”
“She wouldn’t make a mistake like that, would she?”
“People make mistakes all the time. Then again, maybe she wasn’t doing anything that she cares about someone else seeing,” I said.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Tammy said.
Tammy and I went back to the computers.
“Who’s going to check?” Tammy asked once we were in front of the computer.
We stared at the screen for a moment.
Finally, I said, “I’ll do it.” I released a deep breath and sat down in front of the screen.
I tapped the space bar and sure enough she hadn’t logged out yet. Well, I assumed she hadn’t logged out since at the top of the screen it said, Welcome, Jeanette.
“What is the site?” Tammy asked at the same time Annie sent a text.
“It looks like a health food store. Maybe she ordered some things since clearly they’re not letting her leave any time soon.”
“Is tha
t it?” Tammy asked.
I looked back through the history. “It looks as if she was looking at the local news.”
“That’s it?” Tammy sighed. “That’s not good.”
“I guess we can’t expect to find a smoking gun,” I said.
“Oh, look, she left her agenda.” Tammy reached for it. “Who uses these things anymore?”
My eyes widened. “Should we look in it?”
Tammy sat in the chair next to me. “Heck, yeah, we should check it. What if she confesses to the murder between these pages? It could be like her diary.”
“I think that’s definitely a stretch to think she’d do that.”
“Okay, you’re right, we shouldn’t look.” Tammy put the book down in front of me.
I knew she was calling my bluff.
Finally I sighed and pushed the book back toward her. “Okay, you can take a quick peek.”
Tammy smirked. “Oh, sure, let me do the dirty work.”
“Well, it was your idea,” I said. “And by the way, I still use an agenda.”
“Yeah, I forgot how much you love looking at lists.” Tammy unsnapped the book and looked at the front page. “See, it is hers. Has her name right here.” Tammy flipped through the pages.
Now I was getting anxious. “What’s in there?”
“Appointments.”
“Look back at the date of Alex’s murder,” I said.
Good idea, Annie said.
“There’s nothing there,” Tammy said with a frown.
My shoulders slumped. “Just as I suspected.”
Tammy looked through a couple more pages. “Wait.”
“What is it?” I leaned closer.
“She wrote down the address for the asylum.”
“You’re kidding,” I said.
Tammy handed me the book. “Right there and it’s on the date you found Alex.”
A lump sat in my throat. “That’s definitely something, but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I doubt a jury would convict her of murder over that.”
Tammy looked through the rest of the agenda, but found nothing important. I tapped the space bar again and the computer screen came to life.
