SEEING DEAD THINGS: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel (Roxie’s Midlife Adventures Book 1)

by Leigh Raventhorne

  I snorted as I turned to her. “Really? Your family has had this Sight for who knows how many generations and you’ve seen everything that you’ve seen during your life and after. Now I have the Sight, too, all because of a concussion—and possibly brain damage—don’t even get me started there, because I’m still expecting to wake up some day and find out this is all some weird coma-induced dream.” I had to pause to catch my breath. And for a little dramatic effect, of course. “And that’s the part you can’t believe?”

  She laughed at me. “Yes, that’s the part, Roxanne. And for the record, I died of a heart attack when I was in my sixties.” She patted her thick waistline. “I had high cholesterol and I still chose to eat like I was twenty, so I have nobody to blame but myself. My husband had already passed and my only child had died in an automobile accident way before her time. I was ready to go be with them. I only stuck around after long enough to make sure Elmer knew where the Items and the journals were.”

  “So, you’ve got loved ones on the other side and here I am pulling you back every time I panic or have a question? Oh my gosh—I’m sorry! And why do you not look like you’re in your sixties?” Oops. I didn’t mean to add that last part out loud. She really didn’t look much older than fifty.

  “It’s not like that. This is part of our job description. One day it will be part of yours, too. Coming back to this side is kind of nice, once in a while. Change of scenery and all that, you know. And thanks, it’s these extra pounds that help keep the wrinkles at bay,” she said with a saucy wink.

  “If you girls are done over there, can we get back to the matter we’re here for in the first place? I would like to get back to my Bingo game before all the good prizes are gone.”

  What kind of prizes did they give away in Hea—er, the other side, I wondered. Deciding it wasn’t a good time to ask that question, I moved on to something else I had been wondering.

  “Elmer mentioned that I must have had at least a little Sight when I was younger. That maybe I grew out of it and the head injury just turned it back on, like a switch. Does that sound feasible to you?”

  Grandmam Jenkins thought about that before answering. “I suppose it’s possible something like that could happen.” She gave a pointed look at the ring on my left hand. “After everything I’ve heard today, there’s not much that I would doubt. He is right about you having the Sight—or something like it, anyway—at some point in your life. Especially if your family has its own Items. Abilities don’t just show up out of the blue. Family lineage is what determines these things. And different families’ magicks can evolve and change sometimes, just like everything else. It’s just the nature of things. You do look much like others with the Sight that I’ve met before—outside my own family, of course—,” she squinted at me, “but there are some differences.”

  “Like what?” I asked, not sure if I was curious or worried.

  “You’re brighter around the edges, for one thing,” she said.

  Rosemary nodded her agreement and piped in, “And your color is a little different. Our family’s edges are more white. Yours looks kind of silverish.”

  “Uh-huh. Are you sure you aren’t just picking up the gray hairs poking through? Because I’m pretty sure my gray has doubled in the past month.”

  Both Rosemary and her grandmother guffawed at that. Great. At least I was a source of amusement to them.

  “So, what now? I know you ladies have to get back to, um, Bingo and everything, but what should I do now?”

  “Now you study. You read the journals, you learn what each of those Items do, and you get that jewelry back from your husband so you can learn about those, too. You’ll need to start keeping your own journal. It’s how we keep records. Did your family have journals that they left you?”

  I didn’t correct her about my husband, just as I hadn’t at her last mention of him. In my mind, he was my soon-to-be-ex-husband. “I never saw any when I cleared their things out of the house. I do have some boxes of photo albums and papers that I’ve never gone through, except to pull pictures for their funerals. It’s all still boxed up over at the house.” I glanced over at my laptop. “I can keep a journal. I write a lot anyway, so I’ve always got notebooks handy, but—could I keep record on my computer, too?”

  Grandmam looked at Rosemary, confused. Rosemary explained, “These days people use computers to document most things. It’s like a typewriter but it stores what you type inside.”

  I didn’t correct her explanation. There was no way I was going to try to explain what cloud storage was to these two. Or a memory card or any other backup device.

  “I guess you could do that if you wanted to,” she responded, though her tone clearly conveyed she really couldn’t understand why anyone would want to. “You’ll figure it all out, I’m sure. You need to talk to Elmer and let him know it’s time for him to cross over. He has loved ones that have waited a long time to be with him again.”

  She stood up and Rosemary followed suit. I guess that was the signal that the visit was over. Grandmam handed me back the book with the illustrations in it as I got up, as well.

  “You keep these safe, girl. And yourself, too. If you need either of us, you pull us over right away, you hear?” The way she said it was more of an order than a question, but I nodded anyway.

  “I will, ma’am.” I promised, then corrected myself quickly before she could. “I mean Grandmam.”

  My answer seemed to satisfy her because she relaxed and looked over at Rosemary, who was poking through the jewelry box. “Let’s go. Does she know what to do?”

  “Yes, Grandmam.” Rosemary sounded exasperated. “I’ve only been here twice but I have not been completely remiss, you know.” As she walked over to stand next to Grandmam, she bumped my hand. Reflexively, I looked down and opened my hand as she dropped a ring into it. It was the ring she had told me to wear whenever I went out, that would afford at least a little protection against Steven. She looked back at me and mouthed ‘wear it’, and then looked pointedly at the ring on my left hand. I slipped the ring on and gave her a small nod.

  “Humph! You should have told me about all of this yourself.”

  “All of what? I only knew she had the Items and the books—”

  “And you didn’t think any of that was important?”

  Good grief. It was definitely time to send these two back to the other side. Before I even finished the thought, they were gone. I blinked at the sudden silence. I hadn’t even wished Grandmam good luck at Bingo.

  Flopping back on the bed, I waited for my brain to explode.

  Chapter 15

  Elmer seemed even more withdrawn the next morning. I needed to tell him about my meeting with his cousin and grandmother but I wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up with his current mood. I mentioned going to the dog park, thinking we could talk on the way there and maybe I could just work it into our conversation. He declined, insisting he wasn’t up to it, that he felt too distracted.

  Maybe I’ll just take Jake and I can work this through in my head. I’ll talk to him when we get back.

  “Hey Jake. Want to go to the park with me?” I asked, watching Elmer out of the corner of my eye. He didn’t look up at us or even respond to Jake’s happy bark.

  “Okay then, I’ll take that as a yes. Elmer, we’ll be back in a bit. Will you be around later?”

  He nodded, still not looking at either of us.

  It was a beautiful day for a walk, it turned out. I fingered the opal pendant I had decided to wear, though I didn’t really expect to run into anything Other at the park. The weight of it felt odd but I guess that was a small price to pay for some measure of safety.

  As soon as we entered the drive to the rear parking lot of the McFarlen Library, where the head of the walking trail and the entrance to the dog park were located, I noticed a woman getting out of a white commercial-looking Sprinter van. She had a beautiful German Shepherd at her side. The dog was panting excitedly and gave a couple
little hops but was careful not to pull on the leash. His owner was busy talking on her cell phone, not paying the slightest attention to him as she grabbed a few things out of her van.

  I skirted around her, giving the dog a wide berth in case he was protective, but he had focused on something behind me. I glanced back, seeing Jake stopped in his tracks, looking back at the other dog.

  Huh. It’s almost like they can see each other. Is that possible?

  “Come on, boy,” I said, clapping my hand lightly against my thigh. Jake moved up to my side. The German Shepherd dog paused mid-step, head cocked, his eyes following Jake. The woman on the phone wasn’t paying attention to her dog and walked right into him, nearly falling.

  “Rocco!” she yelled at him, slapping his nose. “Move! What are you trying to do, kill me?”

  The poor dog yipped at the slap, his ears drooping back dejectedly as the woman gave his leash a hard pull. He gave a last woeful look back at us as he followed the woman into the park, the cell phone occupying her attention fully once more.

  I stood there for a moment, in shock. Should I have said something? Done something? Feeling sorry for poor Rocco, I looked down at Jake. “Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, boy. You still want to do this?”

  He woofed and looked over toward the park. I swore sometimes he understood me. “Okay, then. Let’s go. How about we sit far away from her, hmm?”

  As we walked over to the gate leading into the park, I noticed a man by the fence watching the woman and Rocco. She was sitting on one of the benches, still on her phone. Rocco was sitting beside her, quivering with excitement, wanting to play with the other dogs. As she reached down and unsnapped his collar, I saw the dog lean away from her slightly, his head down a bit. I didn’t know much about dogs, but he acted like he didn’t want to be hit again. As soon as he was released, he ran off to play with a couple of the other dogs.

  “Oh, Jake. Poor Rocco. Someone needs to report her.” I said, as I went through the gate, holding it open for him. I shook my head, and muttered to myself as the bear of a dog simply ghosted through the fence instead, taking off running and barking happily to play. I watched as he ran over to join two other dogs chasing a ball their human threw. Both dogs avoided Jake’s personal space, just as he took special care to stay out of theirs. Curious. I wondered if the dogs could somehow sense him there.

  “His real name is Toby,” the man at the fence said. He sounded like he was speaking with his teeth clenched together. “And she doesn’t deserve him. That imitation Cruella Deville doesn’t deserve my dog.”

  I turned to look back at him, carefully keeping the fence between us. The man looked angry. “Um, excuse me?” I asked, hesitantly, not sure if I should even be engaging him in conversation.

  His head snapped toward me so fast, I nearly tripped stepping back. Looking back over at Jake, knowing he wouldn’t let this man hurt me, I straightened and stared back at him.

  His brow scrunched in confusion. He looked down for a moment and then back at me. “You can see me?”

  “Y-Yes, I can see you. What kind of question is that?” I asked, wondering how fast Jake could make it back here if I screamed. I looked down at the ring Rosemary had told me to wear. Would it really protect me?

  He looked back at the woman. And then at Rocco—or Toby, as he’d called him. And then back at me.

  “Um, so, is this like a divorce thing? She got the dog?” I asked.

  He made a sound of disgust. “Not hardly. She wasn’t even my type when I was alive.”

  I stiffened. “Y-you’re a ghost?”

  The man turned to face me fully. He was kind of handsome, in a dark and dangerous kind of way. The way he held himself, almost at attention, made me think he was military for some reason.

  He considered me for a moment then, stepping closer said, “The name’s Randall, ma’am. Randall James. My friends call me—used to call me—Rand. I’m sorry for the way I behaved. You startled me, is all. You’re the first person who’s seen me in—a really long time. I guess I wasn’t expecting it. May I ask what your name is?”

  “I’m Roxanne, but my friends call me Roxie.” I was nervous and desperately hoped it didn’t show. He might be kind of a hunk but I was still in shock that he was a ghost. I was trying to figure out how I hadn’t noticed that right away. Looking more closely now, I could tell he looked less solid than a—living—person normally would. Maybe it was because I had been with Jake all morning and was getting too used to how he looked. “Do you mind?” I asked, pointing at a nearby bench. “I brought Jake here for some playtime with the other dogs.”

  He looked around at the other people in the area so intensely, I wondered if he was memorizing every detail. “Of course not. That big black monster, he’s yours?”

  Nodding, I decided not to tell him Jake wasn’t actually mine. After yesterday, I wasn’t ready to spill the insanity of my last month to a complete stranger within the first minute. Brushing off the empty bench, I made sure there were no surprises on it before sitting down and answering. I watched Jake getting his exercise, taking my time as I gathered my thoughts.

  “So how is it that you’re here? A ghost hanging out at a dog park? And how is it that you can see Jake?” I asked him, still watching the dogs.

  “That’s a bit of a long story, ma’am. And why would you think I wouldn’t see him?” he asked.

  I thought about it for a moment, chewing on my lip. “I’m not really sure. I’m kind of new to this, you see. I’m still trying to figure out how it all works. I was learning everything I could from Elmer—”

  “Elmer? Is he someone like you? A person that can see spirits?” Rand interrupted.

  “No, well, yes. I mean, he was when he was alive. He had the Sight, like I do, that is—he was able to See ghosts or, um, spirits? But he called himself a ghost, not a spirit.”

  Rand looked around the park, searching. “Is he here with you?”

  “Oh. No, he decided not to come today. He usually does though. I think he’s considering crossing over finally. He really misses his wife.”

  He processed that for a moment. “You mean going into the light?”

  I nodded.

  “I see. Good for him! That makes me very happy to hear.”

  “Why do you say that?” I asked.

  He frowned and looked at the ground in thought for a moment before answering, “The light that beckons to us to cross—to say that it’s a very strong calling, well, that would be an understatement. Most spirits go immediately—after. But some of us, like me, have matters here that need to be resolved before we do. The fact that your friend has resolved his issue is great. I only hope that I can do the same one day . . .”

  I wanted to ask what matter was important enough to keep him here, but that seemed really personal, so I bit my lip. Studying him from under my lashes, I had to admit that he was definitely an attractive man. Heck, who was I kidding? He was drop-dead gorgeous. Pun intended. And way out of my league, even as a ghost. For a second I felt guilty for even thinking any of that—I was in the middle of a divorce, after all. But, hey, divorced isn't dead, right? And, if I was honest with myself, I felt really comfortable around him, safe even, now that I was talking to him. I didn’t want to say or do anything to make him disappear on me just yet. He was the most normal seeming ghost or spirit I had met so far. Maybe if my life wasn’t so insane right now—but if it wasn’t, I could be standing right next to him and never even know. I shook my head to dispel that disturbing train of thought.

  “Jake is actually Elmer’s dog,” I confessed. “Elmer stayed because he was afraid Jake couldn’t go with him to the same place, when he died. He felt guilty leaving him, because Jake had stayed with him after his death.”

  “That actually happens a lot more than you’d think with animals and older people,” Rand said, nodding.

  “He tells me how much he misses his wife Birdie, over and over again. I need to convince him that it’s okay to go to be with her
, that it’s time. And that I can keep Jake company and out of trouble because—well, I can see him, and I kind of owe him. He saved my life,” I admitted. “But I’m really torn. What if I need to learn more from him before he goes?”

  “What more would you need to know?”

  I laughed. “Oh, pretty much everything.” Good lord, this almost felt like flirting. I hadn’t flirted in over a decade.

  “I may be able to help answer some of your questions,” he offered. “It’s kind of mind-boggling actually just how much there is in the paranormal world and the shadow world that I had absolutely no clue existed, before I died. And I’m still learning a lot of it myself.”

  There was my chance. He’d opened the door, after all. “Um, may I ask how you died and what made you stay here afterward?” I immediately felt guilty.

  Smooth Roxie! Real Smooth.

  He leaned over, almost conspiratorially. “Just so you know, you need to be aware of the fact that you’re talking to nobody, as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Just a tip that may save you some embarrassment. That girl that just walked past us noticed. Big time.”

  I glanced around now, more than embarrassed that I hadn’t even considered this problem.

  “But sure, I don’t mind telling you,” he continued, politely ignoring my flaming cheeks. “I was an Army Ranger, home on leave, between deployments. I waded through so much action over in the sandbox that you wouldn’t believe it, and came home without a scratch. I walked into a convenience store here one day to buy a beer and ran straight into some punk with a pistol robbing the place. He didn’t even know how to hold the weapon properly, but he was lucky enough to get one in my heart. Go figure. He got away with it too. He killed the girl behind the counter, for whatever petty amount of cash she had in the drawer, and walked right back out the front door. No surveillance cameras to be found. I couldn’t let that stand, so I passed on my first chance at the light. Later, I found that my dog Toby had been taken out of my truck by animal control and placed in the pound. No way was I letting him get euthanized, so I stayed with him. This chick that adopted him gets zero points for doggie parent of the year, so I’ve continued to turn down the offer when the light beckons, while looking for a better opportunity for him. And to look for the punk that killed me. I will find him, and he will pay.”