The current owner was trying to make the place into a bed and breakfast, but the guests always had tales to tell.
Madeline herself had experienced many strange occurrences at the house. When she had come a few weeks previously with Natasha, she had hoped to capture some sounds or images. Natasha usually had a knack for bringing out the spirits. But that particular night, they’d had been no such luck.
She wondered if Natasha would come again tonight. She had been invited and had even been offered twice her customary fee.
Madeline followed the tour guide along with the others, only half listening to the tales of the rooms, as she knew them by heart. She was more interested in what she might see or hear without being focused on the guide. In each room, she stealthily clicked her camera, zooming in on peeled wallpaper and other creepy spots.
She hoped when she arrived home the next day, there would be orbs or ectoplasm visible on the screen. For now, she would just hope she was capturing something, for she couldn’t see or feel anything at all.
Her gaze kept traveling to Jake, and she clicked a few pictures of him as well as of the others. His charisma was evident even through the viewfinder. Whatever he had, people loved him.
I know his type, she thought sadly. She had hoped against hope it wouldn’t be true, but it was. He was the type of man who had it all and knew it. She didn’t begrudge him the hard work it must have taken to get to that point, but she did despise the arrogance good fortune brought. Whether it was real or imagined.
Madeline listened patiently as the team asked various questions about the history lesson they were receiving. The guide responded crisply and knowledgably about facts, from the dates the children were born to what kind of wood was used on the windowsills.
Most of the furniture and moldings were intact. Some of the furnishings had been replaced over the years—fresh mattresses for the many beds, linens, couches and other pieces that might have suffered great wear and tear from the hundreds of people traveling through the bed and breakfast.
Jake didn’t seem to be listening much either, because his gaze strayed to the garish wallpaper and furniture instead of the tour guide and her stories.
When the formal part of the tour was finished, Jake made his way to Mrs. Timothy.
“Thank you so much for your time here today,” he said as he put his arm around the woman. She recoiled from his touch and stepped away, being certain to pat her severely combed gray bun in the meantime.
“I want to invite everyone to the kitchen for tea and cookies,” Mrs. Timothy said.
“We’ll have none of that. There’s work to be done,” Jake said as he looked at the others.
Madeline watched Mrs. Timothy’s face, but it remained stoic.
“Very well,” Mrs. Timothy said. “You will do what you like. You have the house for the entire night. There will be a night maid on duty should you need someone.”
Mrs. Timothy found her coat and left the premises. Madeline turned to Jake. Before she had a chance to speak, he commanded everyone’s attention once more.
“I thought she’d never leave,” he quipped. There were a few polite twitters.
“Well, first of all, every one of us here has done our research, so knowing little bits of trivia means shit. The ghosts will come or they won’t.”
“And if they won’t?” Klaus asked.
“Then that has nothing to do with whether we got the tour or not. Let’s get this equipment set up. Who brought audio-recording devices?”
Everyone raised their hands.
“Okay. Let’s see what we got and decide where to put them.” Everyone approached Jake, tape recorders in hand. A wave of jealousy swept through Madeline. She stepped in front of Jake.
“Maybe we should have a meeting first, to discuss—”
“What’s to discuss?” Jake asked, holding out his hands.
“Well, shouldn’t we devise a strategy?”
“Oh, please. Let’s just figure out which rooms to tape and be done with it.”
“I have sheets to record all this... somewhere.” Madeline rifled through her briefcase.
“Forget it,” Jake said. “We’ll hear what we hear and see what we see. Let us each see which room calls to us and take our spots.”
“But Natasha—” Madeline said just as the doorbell rang. She ran to the front door and opened it to a snow-covered Natasha.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she brushed the snow from her heavy, gray faux-fur coat.
“No worries. Everyone is kind of doing their own thing anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Natasha asked. Madeline noticed Natasha’s fingers trembled as she spoke.
“I just mean I don’t even know if there’s going to be a séance tonight,” Madeline said.
Natasha frowned. Her pale features grew dark and she stared into Madeline’s eyes with firm intent. “There will be a séance. In fifteen minutes. I strongly suggest you gather together your people so we can all experience it properly.” Natasha spoke loudly and looked around her.
The crew nodded. They carefully set down their gear and followed Natasha into the dining room. Everyone went, except Jake and Madeline, who were busy bickering.
“A fine day this turned out to be,” Jake complained. “First, stuck in traffic. Now I’ve ended up here with the High Priestess of Creepydom.”
“Oh, please,” Madeline said. “You’ve heard me speak about Natasha for months. Let’s get ready.”
“As you wish, Sergeant.” Jake saluted. Madeline laughed as she trailed after the others. Jake scooped up his camera and followed her into the room.
The séance room consisted of a large table in the middle of the room. Hutches with displays of everything from photographs to china lined the walls. Cameras and other recording devices were positioned around the room on tripods and on the hutches. The lights had been turned off, and in the center of the table were several flickering candles.
At the table, the only spots left were next to each other. Madeline chose one while Jake chose the other. Natasha waited until everyone was settled.
“Are we ready now?” she asked.
Various nods and responses of “yes” were heard.
“Everyone has their equipment set up?” Natasha asked.
Again, heads nodded.
“Because you can’t break the circle once we start. So if there’s any fiddling you need to do, be done with it.”
Jake got up and went over to his camera. He had placed it on a tripod, facing the séance table. He looked through the viewfinder and made a couple of adjustments. He grinned and returned to the table. Madeline scowled.
He was just looking for more attention, she thought.
“Are we ready now?” Natasha asked again.
“Yes,” Madeline said forcefully. Natasha raised an eyebrow at her.
“Sorry. I’m just excited,” Madeline said.
“Everyone, join hands.”
Jake reached for Madeline’s hand, and she took it. His grip was strong, his flesh warm, and just touching him soothed her ruffled feathers for a moment.
“Now, close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing,” Natasha said. “Just breathe in slowly and release it slowly. Every time you blow out, let your tension and wandering thoughts blow out of your system. Try to keep your mind blank so you can be ready to receive any messages.”
The room was filled with the sound of the investigators breathing. Natasha started to hum a tuneless melody while the breathing continued.
The candles flickered wildly. Madeline tried to clear her head of all thoughts, but the warmth of Jake’s hand was making her giddy. Her other hand held Natasha’s cold one. The atmosphere in the room was one of silent anticipation.
Behind Madeline, a warmth swelled through the air. It seemed as though it was trying to wrap around her shoulders, but she shuddered and it stopped. She squinted open her eyes and looked at Diana, who was sitting across from her. Diana kept her eyes squeezed sh
ut, and except for the fear-induced wrinkles around them, she had a pretty face. Her jaw was strong and square, her cheekbones high and narrow. A high forehead hinted at the intelligence Madeline knew she possessed, because she’d been corresponding with her for years. Diana in the flesh was a much different picture than Madeline had imagined.
Madeline realized as she looked around the table that all of her message-board friends weren’t how she imagined them. Diana’s blue-and-green-streaked hair and thick, black glasses didn’t match the photo of the curly-haired blonde with sparkling, clear blue eyes on her website and icon. Her flippant attitude wasn’t consistent with the thoughtful intellect that resonated through the message board.
Klaus was much taller and thinner than she had imagined. She didn’t have a former mental picture of him, since most pictures of him were blurry. He tended to use photographs from his work as his icons and peppered them through his webpages. His quiet demeanor was sure to be overpowered at some point during the weekend. With the moon going into Leo that weekend, everyone’s egos were sure to rise to the forefront.
Eric was short and round. He too wore glasses and still hadn’t outgrown his childhood acne. His nervous energy was uncontained, and, even with his eyes shut, he was fidgety. His posts always sounded affected, but he was really rather shy in real life.
Then there was Jake. She should have known that a man so handsome would have a bad attitude. Already he was sighing and squeezing his hands in impatience. She knew it wouldn’t be long before his foot started tapping.
“What was that?” Diana cried out. She jerked back in her chair, pulling her hands back.
“Don’t let go,” Natasha warned.
Quickly Klaus and Eric grabbed her hands on either side and they settled back into the circle.
“Didn’t any of you hear that?” Diana said.
“No,” Klaus replied. “Didn’t hear a thing.”
“Me neither,” Eric said.
“I did.” Natasha smiled. “And maybe one of your recording devices did too. Shall we continue?”
“I don’t know... that was freaky,” Diana said.
“Let’s all take a deep breath and focus,” Natasha said, drawing in a breath. “No more talking. Just feeling.”
Feeling.
There was that word again.
Madeline wondered what Diana had heard. Had she felt it too? She wanted to ask her but was afraid of agitating Natasha if she interrupted the flow of energy. It tingled through her fingers and buzzed through her body. The energy poured from Natasha and through her body in a warm gush. The newly revitalized energy surged forth from her fingers into Jake’s, and she imagined him filled with the flow of everyone around the table.
The energy seemed to calm him, and before long, Madeline shut her eyes and tried to imagine darkness.
Natasha’s voice calling spirits was distant as her thoughts swam. Shadowy forms took hold behind her eyes, twisting and turning like lava lamps. She wondered if she was creating the images or if they were manifesting on their own.
The temperature in the room seemed to get colder.
It’s an old, drafty house, her mother chided.
Yes, an old, drafty house. But the doors were closed and the room had been nearly stifling when they’d first sat down.
A draft.
A rush of warm air swirled around her. She wondered if her hair was really lifting or if the tingling along her scalp was the fingernails of unseen hands. She was afraid to open her eyes to see if anyone was touching her.
Natasha’s hand was still icy cold and Jake’s was fiery hot. Her own body began to throb with a steady pulse. As a flush crept along her neck and into her face, she realized her body’s throbbing was matching Jake’s pulse through her hand.
The idea of it caused her to shift in her seat as warmth fanned along her groin, her pussy throbbing in sync with the rest of her.
Natasha’s voice stopped, and Madeline imagined they were now supposed to wait for something to happen.
As Jake’s hand held hers tighter, she slipped back into one of her favorite daydreams about him.
She was lying on the far side of Hermana Beach. The area that was for nude sunbathers. She lay facedown on her towel, totally naked, enjoying the hot sun beating down on her flesh. Strong hands rubbed suntan lotion along her body from head to toe. She wriggled under his touch, the warm sand pressing firmly into her.
His hands pushed her over until she was lying on her back. Jake’s face smiled down at her as he rubbed lotion along her breasts and belly. His eyes never left hers as he rubbed her along her taut thighs and muscular calves.
When he was done, he crawled back up to her and straddled her. His naked thighs hugged her waist as he lowered his face to hers.
“You’re going to burn out here,” he whispered.
“You’re going to burn,” Jake said harshly, pulling Madeline from her reverie.
“What?” Madeline opened her eyes and saw with dismay one of the candle jars had fallen over and a flame was licking along the tablecloth toward her.
“What happened?” she asked as she tried to push away from the table. Natasha and Jake held her hands, preventing her from breaking the circle.
“It will go out,” Natasha said. As she stared at the flames, their vibrancy waned, and eventually only melted wax remained.
“Was it knocked over? I had my eyes shut,” Madeline said.
“It was knocked. I’m not sure if it was by a ghost.” Natasha looked over at Jake, who stared back at her with steely blue eyes. The shadows on his face caused by the remaining candles gave him a sinister darkness. Madeline’s hand involuntarily squeezed his as her heart raced faster.
“There are no ghosts. Just explanations,” Jake said.
“Whoa, there, Jake,” Eric said. “Many times you’ve posted about your findings and experiences. You’ve had all sorts of encounters with ghosts.”
“I’ve had strange encounters, yes. But were they ghosts?” Jake asked.
“Only you know for sure,” Klaus said.
“If only I did know. I just know I don’t know what I saw or felt at any given time. Doesn’t mean it was ghosts. Or hocus pocus. Just like that candle falling over. The flame was heading right for Madeline.”
“Gee, thanks,” Madeline quipped.
“No, the flame really was,” Natasha said and squeezed her hand. Madeline squeezed back and tried to lighten up.
“Do we continue on or clean that up or what?”
Natasha stared at the pool of hardening wax. The trail spanned from the center of the table to almost where Madeline sat.
“We will leave it for now. But we certainly must do something about it before we leave here tonight.”
“I can do it tomorrow,” Diana said. “It will give me something to take my mind off this creepy place.”
“It is creepy, isn’t it?” Eric said.
The front door slammed, and they all jumped.
“Look, we didn’t break our grip.” Madeline laughed.
“We’re getting the hang of this getting-spooked stuff,” Klaus said.
The door to the room swung open, and everyone jumped again. A woman stood there in a black dress and white apron. Her hair was tied back in a long, brown braid that reached to her bottom. She was heavyset and rather stern-looking.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she entered. “Did I startle you?”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m Mavis, the night help. Don’t mind me. I’ll put my things away and go up to my room.”
Jake sighed and tapped his foot while everyone else watched Mavis trudge through the room and into the adjoining kitchen. They listened while she rattled around for a while and then reemerged with a cup of tea in her hand.
“I’m up in the attic room if you need me. Don’t spook yourselves too much.” Mavis chuckled as she went back out the main door and shut it behind her. Her footsteps creaked a few times above them and then disappeared i
nto the attic.
“I’d hate to sleep in that attic,” Madeline said. “It’s scary up there.”
“It’s scary everywhere,” Diana said. “Don’t kid yourself.”
“I slept here a couple of weeks ago,” Madeline said. “I don’t think I slept much all night. I kept hearing strange sounds. Half the time they sounded like they were coming from Natasha’s room, but whenever I went in, she was fine and alone.”
Natasha nodded. “Not everyone has the same experiences at the same time,” she said. Madeline thought she felt the air thicken and grow warmer.
Natasha licked her lips. “Let’s proceed now that we have some quiet again. I’m pleased to see that once more you didn’t let go of each other’s hands.”
“Do I get a gold star?” Jake asked.
Natasha smirked, and Madeline shot him what she hoped was an angry look.
Madeline went back to work staring at the candles. Her glasses were beginning to fog up, and it was annoying her. But if she were to take them off, she would break the circle.
“Wait,” Madeline said. She held up the hand that was attached to Natasha and plucked her glasses from her nose.
“That’s better. I was beginning to fog up, and it was really getting on my nerves.”
“Turn around so I can see you,” Jake said. He stared into her eyes. She couldn’t see him very well, but she sensed him scrutinizing her.
“Your eyes suit the candlelight,” he said. “When we can let go, I want to photograph you in the candlelight.”
“We’ll see,” Madeline said as she snapped her head away from him. Inside, she was wondering why on earth she had said such a thing. Of course she would love to be photographed in the candlelight by a professional like Jake. And now she had blown it.
Jake stared at the candles. Natasha sighed. “You can talk about pictures later. You have all weekend.”
Natasha tried to bring the group focus back to the matter at hand. Madeline noticed she kept licking her lips and seemed to be trembling. Could she be hungry again already?
Natasha caught her worried look and frowned. Madeline shut her eyes and tried to go back to the beach, but the vision was gone. In its place was a long, stony tunnel. The bricks were crumbling with age, moss grew wild and a dank puddle on the floor seemed to stretch on for miles in the blackness.
Aquarius: Haunted Heart Page 5
