by Rose Pressey
The problem was I had been at the scene of both murders. Though witnesses could explain that there was no way I could have killed Ashley because I’d been giving the tour at the time.
The officer stopped writing, then leaned back in his chair. “We won’t worry about Officer Landon right now. He can take care of himself. What I need to know are the facts about what happened tonight.”
He wouldn’t worry about Brannon, but I certainly was going to worry. By the tone of his voice now I was definitely getting an angry vibe from him. He stared at me as if that would somehow make me tell him what he wanted to hear. I had nothing else to tell him.
“I’ve told you everything I know about this situation. Now you need to let Brannon go.”
He tapped his pen against the table and stared at me. The noise seemed amplified and the walls seemed to be closing in on me. The look on his face was one of surprise at first. He was shocked that I had talked to him like that.
“You work right there in the graveyard near where her body was found.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean that I had anything to do with it. I was at home.”
“Why did you cancel the tour tonight?”
“Ruby was taking all my guests. How can I have a tour if I have no tour-goers?”
“So that gives you a reason to want to harm her,” he said.
I shook my head. “That’s not true.”
This was quickly spiraling out of control. I had to speak with Brannon before it was too late for the both of us. The detective wasn’t taking his eyes off me now. The room seemed smaller and much hotter. My stomach churned and dizziness swept over me.
Just then, the door opened. I didn’t know whether to feel relief or worry when another detective walked in. The new detective gave a half-hearted smile my way and then leaned down to speak with the other detective. He whispered in his ear so that I couldn’t hear what was said.
The other detective walked out of the room. I supposed I wasn’t being saved.
The detective pushed to his feet. “Okay, Ms. Van Raden, you are free to go.”
I looked at him in shock. “What? You mean I can leave?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
Was this a trick? I shouldn’t doubt it. I just needed to go with it. I stood up and hurried to the door. I didn’t want to give him a chance to change his mind. I was just glad he was letting me go. It was about time they came to their senses.
I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually leaving the police station. I wasn’t in handcuffs and obviously I wasn’t behind bars.
Brannon walked me out to his cruiser. He was going to give me a ride home. I wanted to go home, collapse in my bed, and wake up and all of this nightmare would be over. Unfortunately, I didn’t think that would happen, but I could still at least sleep off some of the stress.
“Sorry you had to go through that,” he said as we pulled away from the police station.
“I’m just glad that they have some clues about who did this to her. I might’ve been angry, but I still want to find justice. I feel terrible that this happened.”
The police had obtained a video of her with an unidentified man. All they could make out was the back of him. Brannon had shown me the video clip. I knew it looked a whole lot like Lee Dolan, the guy from the library who had been stalking me. But then again, it also looked like John, the boyfriend of the other murder victim, Ashley. So I guess they would be questioning both of those men. At least Brannon and I had been released.
Chapter 14
The next day, I went to the back of the tavern to have a look around. Maybe I would find some kind of clue. I couldn’t understand why she had gone back there. Maybe she wanted to go over to the cemetery, but I never went that way. I always went out the front door and down the alleyway. There was something about the back of the tavern that was spooky. Too spooky for me. And that was saying a lot.
Large oak trees hovered over the area, making me feel small and vulnerable. It seemed as if they were watching me. The feeling was much different from the cemetery. I figured it would be scary there, but this area was much more menacing.
A rustling noise sounded from behind me and I spun around. My adrenaline surged. No one was there, but it still felt as if I wasn’t alone. It didn’t feel like cranky old Mrs. Clatterbuck either. If there was a spirit nearby, it wasn’t a friendly one. The branches swayed harder now as the wind picked up. In spite of the feeling the area provoked, nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the whole area. No creepier than usual, I supposed.
Wind whipped around, blowing my hair and causing the tree branches to sway with a fury. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted something drift by, flipping through the air like a tumbleweed rolling across the desert. The pieces of paper continued to float across the wind and then finally stopped when the fence blocked them.
Suddenly the wind died down. It was odd that it had just stopped so abruptly. Normally I wouldn’t be curious about a couple old pieces of paper, but now I was oddly drawn to them. Plus, I didn’t want to leave the litter. I had made sure to pick up the trash around the cemetery on a regular basis. I hurried over to the area, hoping that the wind didn’t come back and carry the papers away before I got there. Though at least I had the fence blocking the exit from this area.
I reached the papers and picked them up. It felt as if something had followed me all the way over there. I looked around, but still I was alone back there. I looked at the papers. I couldn’t believe what I saw. They were copies of pages from the diary. How had they gotten here? I looked around again to see if someone had lost them recently. Still no one that I could see anywhere near the area. I wondered how far they had blown before they’d reached their final destination. The papers were the first and the last pages.
Had someone copied the whole book? If so then where were the other pages? How had the pages gotten here in the first place? I headed back toward the building. I wanted to look around to see if found more pages. I scanned the area but so far there were no other papers. Beside the back door were a couple of trash cans. Just down from those was the Dumpster that several of the businesses shared. I really didn’t think I could climb into the Dumpster tonight to look for the papers. It was dark and there was no telling what was lurking back here.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Ruby had lost them when she was back here before her death. Or was that what she’d been looking for and the reason she’d been back here to begin with? That sent a chill down my spine. What if the person she’d gotten the pages from was back here and watching me right now? The killer could pop out at any moment and attack me.
I glanced around once again to look for hiding spots. Behind the Dumpster? Behind one of the big oak trees? Since it was so dark it would be easy to hide.
How had someone gotten these pages? They had to have made copies before they’d sent the book to me. Since I wanted to hurry and get out of there, I lifted the top on the trash cans. I wouldn’t look in the Dumpster, but I could take a quick peek inside the trash cans. Inside the cans were black trash bags. I didn’t think there would be any pages in there, since I’d found these two floating around. I decided against opening the trash bags. I supposed I’d never know how the pages had ended up there.
A breeze stirred behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement. When I looked back I spotted the dark shadow right behind me. I gasped and dropped the trash can lids. The darkness surrounded me and I knew this thing was trying to attack me. I ran for the back door, hoping the thing would catch up with me. It could obviously move a lot faster than me. I stumbled for the door and wrapped my hand around the handle. I hoped that someone didn’t lock me out. Thank goodness, when I pulled, the door opened and I rushed in.
I closed the door and headed back toward the bar area. Someone had lured Ruby out there. But who was the man? What had they said to get her out there? I thanked the owner for letting me look around and then left. Good thing they had found the video of the man.
Things seemed awfully calm at the library this morning. It was like the calm before the storm and I had a feeling it was going to change soon. No sooner had I gotten behind the reference desk than books started flying off the shelves everywhere. As I ducked, a dark and heavy presence surrounded me. It felt as if something had a tight grip on my arms. I was being attacked by the dark spirit. I fell to the ground as if I had been punched in the stomach repeatedly.
Patrons of the library looked on in horror as I was attacked by this entity. The cat hissed and then ran away. I no longer had control over my body. My feet lifted off the floor. The thing threw me up in the air and I landed with a hard crash onto the floor. Tammy screamed out, but there was nothing I could do to stop this evil presence. I was powerless in its grasp.
Finally, the pressure lessened until it finally disappeared altogether. It left me alone, and I was now lying almost lifeless on the ground.
Tammy ran over. “Ripley, are you all right? Talk to me.”
Tammy shook me so that I would become more alert. I managed to get my upper body off the floor and finally sat up. I was still a little dizzy. The patrons were quickly racing out of the library. This wasn’t good. I had to make a change soon or else the library would be out of business for good. No, more than likely I would be no longer employed there. What could I do? Tell Mrs. Agnew that a spirit was haunting the place? I was sure she would disagree with that, considering my other paranormal dalliances.
Tammy helped me up from the floor. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m all right now.”
“What happened?” Tammy asked.
“The entity attacked me. I’m worried that thing is going to come back. We have to get rid of it.”
“I don’t know what to do, but maybe you can get some of your paranormal friends to push it out of the library.”
“I’ll have to think of something. Look, almost all the patrons are gone now,” I said.
My phone was going crazy with text messages. When I looked over Annie was standing by the desk with a concerned frown.
Rip, this has to stop. You could be seriously injured.
“I know, Annie. I’ll do something, I promise.” Now if I could only figure out what that something was…
The cat was still hiding. She didn’t want to come out and I didn’t blame her. I wasn’t even going to bring her back to the library until this thing was out of here. I was too scared for her safety.
Just then the door opened. I groaned when I saw Mrs. Agnew headed my way.
You should lock her out. Annie sent a message.
Jane Austen had finally come out of hiding, but when she saw Mrs. Agnew she hissed and ran away. Maybe I should hiss and run away too.
Mrs. Agnew marched across the room and stood right in front of me, glaring at me with her hands on her hips. How had she heard about what happened so quickly?
“Do you care to explain to me what in the world is going on in this place?” She glared at me with her dark eyes.
I really didn’t have an explanation for her. If I said that it was haunted she would be even angrier, so I just told her that I didn’t know what she was talking about.
She glared at me. “Fix this now or else you’re fired.”
Mrs. Agnew turned around and stormed out the door again.
“Wow, that was really the fastest she’s ever heard about anything here,” I said.
“Do you think she’s serious?” Tammy asked.
“I have to assume that she is,” I said.
I wondered if Monica had been using the Ouija board for a lot longer than I realized. She could have conjured up something into the library. Then again, it could be from the book. I could have unleashed it when it was delivered to me. I just wasn’t sure. The one thing I knew was I would have to temporarily close the library.
After completing a few tasks we hurried out and locked the door behind us. This time Annie was coming with me. So was Jane Austen. Though it was never easy to get her in the carrier.
After dropping off the cat at my place, Annie sat in the backseat of the car as I drove to the church. I was going to have a discussion with the priest and maybe he could come over and bless the library. I was kind of at a loss, although maybe we could use one of Brannon’s devices to catch this evil spirit and send it back into hell where it belonged.
I’ll just wait here. Annie sent a text.
I’d synced my phone so that the text was read out loud inside the car. Annie enjoyed this tremendously because she had a voice again.
“All right. I’ll be back as soon as possible,” I said, shoving the car into park.
The church was red brick with a white steeple on the top. A small graveyard surrounded the building on one side and in the back. I hurried across the parking lot and up the church steps. I eased the door open and stepped inside. Of course it was quiet in there and I thought I was the only one until I spotted Pastor Harvey at the front by the altar. I’d been in the church before with my cousins, although this wasn’t my church. Pastor Harvey looked almost the same as when I’d last seen him five years ago when he’d officiated for my cousin’s wedding, though his dark hair was sprinkled with a lot more gray now.
“Good afternoon, Ripley. What brings you to church today?” His voice was always cheery.
I sat down on the pew and he sat beside me.
“Well, I have a bit of a problem with the library. There’s a spirit there and it’s attacking me and harassing everyone.”
“This isn’t good.”
“I was wondering if you could come by and bless the library.”
“Of course. I’d be happy to.”
“Okay, can you come by in the morning?” I asked.
“I’ll be there right when you open,” he said.
I stood and headed down the aisle. That was when the diary dropped out of my bag. He reached down and picked it up.
He frowned as he handed it back to me. “Where did you get that book?”
I looked down at it and said, “I’m not really sure. Why do you ask?”
He frowned and said, “I’ve seen it before.”
I couldn’t believe what he’d said.
“You know this book?” I asked.
He asked for me to give it to him again. I handed him the book and he inspected it.
“Yes, someone came by with this book not long ago. She wanted me to perform an exorcism on her house.”
My stomach dropped. I knew what this meant. There was a connection after all between the book and the haunting at the library.
“What can you tell me about the book, Father?”
“I don’t know much about the book specifically,” he said, handing it back to me. “But the woman who brought it in was convinced that this book was haunted and it was now in her house. That’s why she wanted me to come and perform the exorcism. How did you end up with it?”
“Someone delivered it to the library with my name on it. Why me?”
“I don’t know, I can’t answer that,” he said. “But I’ll be back to the library tomorrow to help you.”
“Can you give me the name and address for this woman?”
“All I know was her name was Christine and she lived on 358 Edgewood Street.”
“Was the exorcism successful?” I asked.
“I assume so since she hasn’t returned.”
I was assuming not since the library was now haunted. I just didn’t know how she’d gotten that ghost to quit haunting her and come haunt me. Unless it was definitely
attached to the book. I had to find this Christine woman and ask her if she’d sent the book to me and if so, why? I wasn’t happy about this. I was angry that she had done this to me. I understood wanting to get rid of it, but not unleashing it on someone else. Did this woman have something against me? Did she not like me? I didn’t even know her.
The air grew thicker as I talked to the priest. As we talked, the expression on his face changed and he must have sensed the change in the air as well. The doors at the back of the church slammed shut.
“How did that happen?” I asked breathlessly.
He gave me a look as if to say, You know the answer. The Bible flew from the pulpit, landing on the floor with a loud thud. The pages flipped. I wondered if it had landed on that page on purpose. It was probably better that I didn’t find out. It was time for me to get out of there before this thing did any more damage. I hurried over and picked up the Bible, placing it back where it belonged.
“Thank you for all your help, Father. I’ll see you in the morning,” I said.
“Good luck,” he said as he waved.
I ran out of the church and back over to the car.
When I got in Annie asked, What did you find out?
“I found out that I’m not the only one who was haunted by this book. I found the name of the person who had it before me. I’m going to go pay her visit and ask why she sent it to me.”
Good idea, Annie said.
I headed over to Edgewood Street to confront Christine. I contemplated what I was going to say and I hoped that she was truthful and honest with me. Since I had the book with me, if it was haunted, then this spirit could attack me at any moment. That made me fearful for my life. I’d thought once I left the library I would be safe, but now I wasn’t so sure. It was probably just waiting for the right moment to do something terrible. What had the book done to Christine to make her want to get rid of it so badly?
