by Rose Pressey
“Okay, I think they’re right over here.” I motioned for her to follow me, but she wasn’t exactly moving at a fast pace. More like a snail. I thought about tossing her in the cart and pushing her over there. Christine would surely be gone by the time I got to the garden section. Finally we reached the area with the plumbing equipment.
“Here they are,” I said with a smile and wave of my hand.
I turned and tried to get out of there before she asked for something else. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it further than the faucets.
“I don’t know which one I need,” she said.
I sighed and stopped. There was no way out of this. I turned on my heel and hurried back over to her.
“Thank you, dear.” She patted my hand.
“Well, who is installing this for you?” I asked.
“I’m doing it myself.” Her gaze was focused on me without as much as a blink.
I stared at her, but didn’t speak. What could I say?
She started laughing. “My daughter is doing it. I had you fooled for a minute, didn’t I? Don’t worry, I wouldn’t attempt that, but I sure would have in my younger days. Now I don’t want to break a hip.”
“Oh.” I chuckled. “You did get me there for a minute.”
“I like to have fun.” She winked.
“Well, this one is nice. It comes out like rain.” I pulled it from the shelf. If she asked any technical details I would be lost.
“That sounds nice. I’ll take that one,” she said with a smile.
I placed it in her cart. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
She patted my hand again. “No, you’ve been wonderful. Thank you for the help. I’ll make sure to tell your boss that you have been a great help.”
I smiled. “Thank you.” I didn’t bother to tell her that I didn’t work there. That would only make her feel bad. I rushed away before anyone needed help with a toilet or a lawn mower.
As soon as I stepped outside into the garden area, I spotted Christine. She was casually looking at the flowers, as if I hadn’t even been following her before. She clearly thought she had lost me. Ha. I showed her. I strolled right over to her, hoping that she wouldn’t run or something. When she looked up and saw me her face turned completely pale.
“I need to talk to you. I know you’re hiding from me.” I stopped in front of her cart, blocking the way.
I didn’t like confrontation, but this had to be done.
“I don’t know who you are. What do you want?” Christine narrowed her eyes.
“My name is Ripley Van Raden and I found a book. Well, actually someone sent it to me. Then I was told that you had it in the past. I was told it had been in your house before.” Maybe I sounded completely crazy.
She shook her head, as if I was lying.
“Are you saying that Pastor Harvey is wrong?” I placed my hands on my hips.
She looked down at the pot of red geraniums, as if I would disappear if she didn’t look at me. I would stand there as long as I had to in order to get her to talk.
“You have to tell me how I ended up with a book. Did you send it to me?” I stared at her and she finally looked up at me. Maybe she realized I wasn’t going away until she answered.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Christine waved her hand dismissively. “I don’t know how you got the book.”
“But you do acknowledge that there’s a book. You know about the book?” I asked. “Please. I really need help.”
She sighed and met my gaze. “Yes, the book used to be at my house, but I lost track of it. I don’t know what happened to it after that.”
“Can you answer a couple of my questions?” I didn’t budge from in front of the cart.
She reluctantly nodded. I hoped she was truthful with me.
“You called Pastor Harvey to help you with the book?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How did you get the book in the first place?”
She stared off into the distance for a moment and then finally said, “We found the book in our house. It was under the hardwood floor.”
“How do you think it got there?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I suppose it had been there for a long time. After we took it out, weird things started happening.”
“Who found the book?” I asked.
“My daughter found it,” she said.
A customer walked past us. I waited until she was out of earshot before I continued.
“It started after she found the book?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s when it started.” She wrapped her hands around the cart’s handles tighter, letting me know she was ready to go.
“What did you do with the book?” I looked her straight in the eye. I hoped she’d do the right thing and tell me the truth.
“Like I said, I lost it. Someone else must have taken it. I don’t know what happened to the book after that,” she said, avoiding eye contact.
And I knew she wanted to get away from me. I had a feeling she wasn’t telling me everything.
“Can you tell me who you gave the book to?” I pressed.
She glared at me. “I lost it.”
I stood my ground. “I don’t believe you. If you just tell me who you gave it to, I will leave you alone.”
She shook her head, but I continued talking.
“If you don’t tell me, then I can guarantee you will see me again. The next time I might just return the book to you.” I used the firmest tone I could muster up.
“Okay, okay.” She pushed the hair out of her eyes. “I just gave the book to someone who collects books. I don’t know what his name was.”
“Where does he live?”
“I don’t know.”
The fact that she wouldn’t look me in the eyes told me she still wasn’t telling the truth, but I couldn’t make her tell me more.
“I have to go now. Sorry,” she said as she weaved the cart around me and headed away from the store.
I wanted to take off after her, but I knew it was pointless. She would just keep telling me that she didn’t know who’d had the book. I guessed the few details I’d learned were better than nothing though. I would have to find out who had placed the book under the floor of the house. Christine had said the book had been there a long time. That was a step in the right direction.
I left the store feeling more than a little discouraged. At least I had helped the old woman with her plumbing needs.
***
Later in the day, I looked up who had owned Christine’s house previously. Thank goodness I had the address. If Christine said she wasn’t the one who hid the book under the floor, then perhaps I could find a previous owner and ask them why it was there. Maybe they would know who was attached and haunting the book. More importantly, I hoped they could tell me how to get rid of it.
Luckily, I was able to look up the deed for the house. I got the name and made a couple calls. I was told that the previous owner currently lived in the Sunrise Assisted Living Center.
Naturally I was on my way there now. I hoped I would be able to talk with Amelia Franklin. When I stepped into the assisted living center no one was at the front desk. A long corridor stretched out in front of me. Unflattering fluorescent lights flickered above, creating an eerie scene that looked more fitting for a horror movie.
Chills came over my body and I instantly felt as if I wasn’t alone in that hallway. Looking over my shoulder, I realized I was still alone. It actually felt like there were a number of people there. I turned the corner and inched down a little way. That feeling of being followed stayed with me. Even the sound of squeaky shoes sounded directly over my shoulder. I spun around quickly and then screeched a little and jumped. A woman in a white uniform stood behind me.
She glared at me with a scrunched-up face. “May I help you?”
“I called about speaking with Amelia Franklin.”
The petite woman looked me up and down. “She’s waiting for you in
the rec area. I’ll take you there. Come with me.”
I followed her down the long hallway. The sensation of being surrounded by people continued all the way until I stepped into the large recreation room. Only there had only been the two of us out in that hallway.
Inside the large room was a television, sofas, and then also tables around the room for people to visit or possibly play games. I spotted a woman at the back of the room, sitting by herself. Others stared at me as I walked across the room toward her. The woman was staring at me and I knew it must be Amelia. She waved and I tossed my hand up.
“Let me know if you need anything,” the woman in the white uniform said as she turned around and left me there.
“Hello, Amelia?” I said when I walked up to the little lady.
Amelia motioned for me to sit down in the chair across from her. “I’m so glad that you came for a visit.”
I wasn’t sure why she would be happy to have a visit from me. She didn’t know me. I pulled out the chair and sat down.
“I don’t get many people to come to see me,” she said, as if reading my thoughts.
“What about family?” I asked.
“I don’t really have no family to speak of.” Her stare didn’t waver from me.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She looked at my purse that I’d set down on the table next to me. “You got any chocolate in there?” she asked.
“No, sorry, no chocolate,” I said. “I guess you want to know why I’m here.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Mildly interested.”
Amelia had taken me off guard a little by her answer. I pressed on with the conversation.
“I wanted to ask you about the house that you owned before you came here.”
“That place?” Her expression changed. A darkness appeared in her eyes.
“Well, the current owners found a book…”
Her face scrunched up into a terrible, painful expression. “I was hoping no one would ever find that book.”
Wow. I honestly hadn’t expected her to answer me.
“So you know about the book?” I said.
“I know about it and I’m the one who put it under the floor.”
I couldn’t believe that she had offered that information so readily.
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
Her stare was fixed on me. “I think you know why.”
“I have the book,” I said.
A terrified expression crossed her face. “I hope you didn’t bring it.”
“I have the book with me.” I gestured toward my purse with a tilt of my head.
Her eyes widened. “That book should’ve never been taken out from under the floor.”
“Well, I suppose they didn’t know that they shouldn’t do that.”
“Please don’t take it out. I don’t want to see it.” Panic flashed in her eyes.
“I promise I won’t show it to you,” I said. “Why did you put it there?”
“I didn’t know what else to do with it. I thought if the book was hidden away then it wouldn’t bother anyone,” she said. “It had been blessed and bound. Was it still that way? When it was undisturbed everything seemed fine.”
“I’m still confused as to why,” I said.
“You see, I didn’t want to get rid of the diary totally because those were my mother’s words… her last words.”
My stomach sank. I should have realized one of the daughters was named Amelia. Sarah had mentioned her daughter’s name in the diary. I’d never thought that was who had written the diary. I would offer to give the book back to Amelia, but somehow I didn’t think she wanted it now.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“I hated to leave it there.”
“I promise to take good care of the book for you.” I touched her arthritic hand.
She shook her head. “No, no, you must put the book back. I don’t want you to go through that.”
I supposed she had a point about that, but it was already too late.
“I’ll make sure to take care of it, okay? Don’t worry.”
The worry in her eyes was disturbing. I didn’t want to upset her any longer.
“Thank you for the information. It was lovely meeting you.”
“Thank you for visiting me.” She eyed my purse again. “You sure you don’t have any chocolate in there?”
“I’m afraid not. Not even an old mint,” I said.
She laughed. “Well, at least I tried.”
I walked out of the center and into the parking lot. I paused as I peered back at the building. It felt as if the entire place was watching me. Another product of my overactive imagination, I supposed. I reached my car and climbed behind the wheel.
As I drove down the street, I couldn’t stop thinking about Amelia. Just a short distance down the road I turned into the shopping center. I headed straight for the grocery store. I was going to buy chocolate and go back.
I picked out a nice selection of assorted chocolates, paid for them, and then jumped back in my car. What was I thinking? I should have taken a gift anyway. And if it was chocolate she liked, then that was what she was going to get.
The petite woman in the white uniform who had helped me earlier was at the front this time when I entered. She just smiled when she saw me with the box of chocolates.
“Amelia is still in the rec room, waiting for you,” the woman said with a smile.
“How did she know that I would go get the chocolates?”
The woman shrugged. “She just knows… she knows lots of things.”
Amelia waved me over when she saw me walk through the door.
“I brought you chocolates,” I said, handing her the big box.
She smiled. “Thank you. They’re my favorite.”
“How did you know I would come back?” I asked.
She opened the lid of one of the box and pulled out a piece of candy. “Caramel’s my favorite,” she said.
“Glad you like them,” I said.
She took a bite of it and smiled. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”
I guessed she wasn’t going to tell me how she knew.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you soon,” she said with a wink.
How did she know my plan to come back for regular visits? I guessed she just knew a lot of things. I walked out of the place and headed for my car again, trying to figure out what I was going to do with this book now that I knew. Like Amelia, I didn’t want to get rid of it permanently, but I also didn’t want this evil entity attached to me forever. I didn’t want anyone else to ever find it either.
Chapter 16
I was driving back from an event at the library a couple towns over. Night had fallen and I was on an isolated road. There were no busy highways that led from Elmwood to my hometown of Devil’s Moon. Along the side of the road were nothing but trees and more trees. The pitch-black darkness was scary and it felt as if eyes were watching me with every inch I made down the road.
I wished there were streetlights or something. All I had were the headlights from my car. At least I had the radio to keep me company. I was listening to the latest from Taylor Swift, trying to let the upbeat music keep my mind off the eerie feeling. It almost felt as if someone was in the back of the car riding along with me. Every few seconds I glanced in the rear-view mirror. No one I could see was back there. Was it possible that I had a ghost back there? Actually that wouldn’t surprise me. I’d been to so many haunted places that it wouldn’t be unheard of for a ghost to tag along for a ride. Just a little more and I would be back into Devil’s Moon and around people again. I couldn’t wait to be home and safe.
Just then my car sputtered.
“Don’t die on me. Not here.”
My car didn’t listen though. It stopped right there and I had to pull over on the side of the road. Darkness surrounded me and I didn’t want to get out of the car. I picked up my phone. This was not my night. The screen indicated that there was no servi
ce. I had hoped I could call for help. I looked out the window, but of course saw nothing but darkness. I guessed now I would have to walk. I eased the car door and slowly got out.
I locked the car, even though since it wouldn’t start no one could steal it anyway. As I headed off down the lonely stretch of road, I wrapped my arms in front of me as if that would offer some kind of protection.
A rustling noise sounded from nearby. My heart rate spiked and I picked up my pace. This road was the scariest place I’d ever been, and I’d been to a ton of scary places. I had to face the fear though and keep walking. How else would I get back to town? Maybe after a short distance my phone would start working again and I could call for help. I hoped a stranger didn’t force me into their car.
That same rustling noise sounded again. It was as if something was following me. I glanced over, but saw nothing. The more fear I had the more noises I heard. I supposed that could be a work of my imagination. Nevertheless, it didn’t help ease my fears. Sure, I went to a ton of haunted and spooky places, but I had always checked the place out first. That gave me time to become adjusted to the surroundings, or determine that it was just too spooky for me. I didn’t have a chance to do that now.
There was a story that went along with this stretch of road. A woman had died in a car accident. People claimed to run into her ghost from time to time. She wasn’t quite the spirit of the deceased though. I believed a demon had taken on the appearance of this poor girl. That was the only way to explain the evil things people had experienced while riding or walking along this lonely stretch of road. I reminded myself that this was all just stories. Though I knew for a fact that the accident had been real.
That was when the footsteps came from behind me. I looked back. No one was there. Thank goodness. A few more steps and the sound was still there, following right behind me, matching every step that I took. I picked up the pace, but the thing was still back there, though I still saw nothing. I couldn’t run any faster. I stumbled and almost fell, but managed to remain upright. However, I did notice that the sound stopped when I did. I started walking again and the noise returned. I stopped again and the noise stopped. Okay, what was going on here?
