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

by Leigh Raventhorne

  “Ah . . . I see. That makes sense. If it’s that obvious and irresistible, you’d be able to see him looking at it. Right?”

  “Yes. One would think so. But he doesn’t. Trust me, I’ve hoped he would every day. I’ve tried everything I could think of to get him to see it. No dice. Other human spirits, on the few occasions I’ve been with one when the light beckons to me, can see it. In fact, in every case they have gone to it. I remained.”

  “Huh. Weird. Can you give me an example? Do you mind?” I asked.

  “Oh no. I don’t mind. You see, it’s not a sad thing to witness. It feels—good that they do. Right. Meant-to-be. For example, Mrs. Harper from two doors down. When she was having her fatal heart-attack, her daughter called for the ambulance. It came in fast, and made quite a commotion, so I walked over to see what was happening. As they brought her out the front door on the stretcher thing, I saw her spirit leave her body. They hurried to get her body into the ambulance, because they of course couldn’t see that it had. Their machine didn’t quit beeping until they were leaving the driveway. I guess it takes the body a few moments before it realizes it’s dead.

  “Anyway, poor Mrs. Harper’s spirit just stood there watching the ambulance go screaming off, looking very confused. She noticed me and came right over. She hadn’t walked under her own power in years, but she did then. She sure did. Didn’t even seem to think about it. Just hurried right up to me, asking what had just happened. Before I had time to say a word, and just as her daughter came hurrying out of the house to her car, the light appeared just steps away from both of us. She looked at her daughter, looked back at me, and then walked right into it. It lingered for a few seconds beckoning to me, but when I didn’t come, it dimmed and disappeared.”

  “Wow!” I’d heard story after story of people describing near-death experiences over the years, but I guess I kind of always doubted them. I mean, they just sounded sort of far-fetched. But here I sat, at Sam’s snack bar talking to a ghost, and I had absolutely no doubt that he was telling me the truth! “So what about animals? What about Jake? You said he stayed here for you when he died. How does it work for them?”

  “The same way, except for they have their own light. Theirs is a different color though. It’s not LED white. Theirs starts out yellowish, like the first hint of sunrise on the horizon in the morning. Then it increases in intensity somewhat and becomes like every color in the rainbow. It’s less frightening to them I suppose than our stark white light would be. That’s what gives me the impression that it’s a doorway to a different place than ours is. I’m sure you’ve heard tell about our beloved pets crossing over ‘the rainbow bridge’ to a place just this side of Heaven. I think that’s where our pets go.”

  “Can you see Jake’s light then?” I asked.

  “No, not exactly. But I can tell when he sees it. He perks up like when he was alive and I’d offer him a treat. He quits whatever he’s doing, and stares at it longingly, just like he did his treats before I told him ‘Okay’ that he could have them.”

  I got up and fixed myself a cup of coffee. “Then how do you know all of what you just described?”

  Elmer smiled his big, friendly smile. “Good question. Remember I told you that when I was alive, that I could See like you do?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, back then when his light would beckon to him, I learned that if I looked directly at Jake I could kind of see it out of the corner of my eye. Just barely, at the very edge of my peripheral vision. If I tried to look directly at it, it would disappear. I’m guessing it’s a safety mechanism to keep the wrong kinds from entering the wrong light, but who knows for sure? Now I can’t see it at all, but I still know when it’s there.”

  “That makes sense,” I agreed. “I’ll have to pay attention to it and try to see it, if I see him acting that way.”

  Chapter 24

  “Hey Jake? How about a walk to the park? Let’s go see Toby!” I said, walking out the door, knowing he would follow. He did, staying right by my side the whole way there.

  There weren’t nearly as many dogs as usual and most of them were small, so Jake decided to lay at my feet in the sun and relax as he watched the gate and waited for his friend. I spread my things out on the bench beside me to discourage anyone else from sitting there. Phone, magazine, and my umbrella which I casually leaned against the seat. I had thought all of this out in advance, as usual. On the ground beside me I set out the two dishes I’d brought for Toby. One was for kibble and the other I poured a bottle of water into.

  I had only made it about halfway through a random magazine of Sam’s I’d brought to pass the time, when Jake let out a low growl. Looking up and around for Rand, Toby, or even another dog—whatever had Jake upset, I saw the very last person I expected to see headed directly for me. Steven!

  Before he reached me, I was on my feet. So was Jake. He stationed himself in front of me, and his growling became louder the closer Steven got. Jake obviously remembered him and what he’d done the last time. “You stay away from me, Steven Bell!” I warned loudly, pointing a finger at him over the back of the huge black dog he couldn’t see—or apparently hear.

  That got the attention of several people who turned their heads and looked at us. They saw a woman standing alone by a bench who was obviously very upset, and a man who was stopped just short of her, pointing his finger at her and shouting. They hesitated to get involved, but continued to stare.

  “I just found out what you did. How dare you treat my daughter like that? And getting physical with her? She came to the house to get my stuff, because I’m not allowed to, and you wouldn’t even let her inside. You never did like her one bit, did you, Roxanne? You always gave her a hard time. You never gave her a chance.”

  I could barely hear Steven’s words above the growls now. As Jake moved forward, he seemed to become more solid looking. He headbutted Steven in the lower chest, stopping him in his tracks. Steven looked down, clearly confused at what he’d walked into. Seeing nothing, he focused on me again.

  “You know none of that is true, Steven. You let her mouth off to me every time she was around—you know what? It doesn’t even matter now, Steven. When you hit me, that was the last straw. We’re done, and you aren’t supposed to be within three hundred feet of me! You either leave right now, or I’m calling the police and you’re going back to jail!”

  The people watching saw me reach down and pick up my phone from the bench. They saw Steven reach forward and snatch it from my hand. The one with the Ring of Protection on it. There was a giant spark—like static electricity, only way bigger. It knocked Steven away from me, but unfortunately made me fall down, as I wasn’t expecting it. I’m sure to the witnesses it appeared that he’d pushed me down.

  That made Steven even more furious, because it probably hurt like hell. As he got further away from the Ring of Protection, which had theoretically calmed his hatred of me somewhat in the moment, he took his frustrations out on my phone, making a big deal out of throwing it as hard as he could down on the concrete that surrounded the bench with a shout.

  I’d hate to think what he may have done had I not been wearing these rings.

  I’m sure everyone saw the phone explode into pieces. A few of the witnesses started moving towards me then. What they saw next must have confused them all. As Steven straightened up from demolishing my phone, he went flying backwards. Literally. He looked like a quarterback in a football game that a big lineman had just hit, without anyone slowing him down at all. He literally got creamed, except there was nobody visible to cream him. Then it looked as though something big grabbed him by the arm and was slinging his body against the ground by it. Except, again . . . there was nobody there. Everyone came to a screeching halt, at the vicious snarl that sounded after Steven’s body hit the ground. Just like something had just released him. Because something had—Jake. But to them, there was absolutely nothing there.

  The park fell silent. My would-be rescuers were seemin
gly frozen in shock as Steven jumped to his feet with that same wild look in his eyes I had seen before. As those eyes locked on me, I felt dread pool deep in my stomach. I stumbled back . . . just as a furious German Shepherd tackled him from behind, taking him down once again.

  “Toby!” Rand yelled as he ran as fast as he could towards them. “Hold him Toby!”

  Only Jake, Toby, and I heard him.

  People were flat out running towards us from all directions now. They saw a man getting his arm mauled by a German Shepherd, who had him down on the ground.

  “Let him go Toby! Release!” Rand commanded as he arrived on the scene.

  Nobody heard him, they just saw the German Shepherd release the man’s arm and back up towards me, where he stood snarling and growling at the man. Clearly, he was protecting me.

  “Roxanne, are you all right?” Rand demanded, trying to catch his breath.

  “Yes! That bastard isn’t supposed to be within three-hundred feet of me! That’s my ex-husband. The one who broke my jaw and put me in the hospital. Jake and Toby stopped him.” Everyone heard me as they arrived at the scene, but I didn’t care at that point.

  “Toby stop! Stand down!” Rand commanded.

  “Rocco you stop that!” screamed the not-doggie-mom-of-the-year Cruella Deville wannabe as she came running up, too. Reaching us, she slapped him on the snout with the leash she carried. Hard. Toby yelped, whimpering as he tried to hide behind me. That’s when everyone got another unexpected and confusing show! As quickly as he had with Steven, Jake launched himself at Cruella for hitting his friend, with a terrible snarl that everyone heard. She flew backwards and landed on her butt with the wind knocked out of her before she could hit Toby again. “What kinda shit is going on here?” she whimpered when she could finally draw a decent breath again. “I didn’t sign up for any of this craziness!” Hurriedly getting up, she ran for her van, leaving Toby behind without even looking back.

  Our audience was stopped again, trying to figure out what had just happened. Steven struggled to his feet. “You’ll pay for this, you bitch!” he screamed at me. There was a resounding SMACK, and his head snapped backwards. He dropped into an unconscious heap.

  “You’d better learn some manners, mister!” Rand shouted down at him. But nobody saw or heard him, leaving some very freaked out people all around us.

  Police sirens were quickly approaching the parking lot, and everyone stood where they were, waiting to see what happened next. Rand motioned to the leash the woman had dropped. “Toby’s your dog and he was just protecting you. Everyone saw it. Don’t let them take Toby away. Please!” he pleaded.

  “I won’t,” I promised, as I snapped the leash onto Toby’s collar.

  A big man stood threateningly over Steven, apparently ready to prevent him from running off before the police arrived on the scene. Two younger women came over to me and convinced me to sit down on the bench, asking if I was all right and assuring me that they’d seen the whole ugly thing and would gladly tell the police that the man had attacked me. Their little dogs showed up yapping and running all around us. It turned into quite a circus.

  Rand stood beside the big man watching Steven, who didn’t know he was there, of course. Steven wouldn’t be going anywhere, except back to jail. I don’t know why, but I started crying. Jake came up from behind me, where nobody was, and put his huge head on my shoulder. My shoulder went icy fast, as his head passed right through, but I wasn’t going to complain after what he’d done for me. Who knows, maybe it would even help stave off the bruising I knew would show up soon. “I’m okay big guy,” I whispered to him. “Thank you!”

  Two Grand Blanc police officers jogged up to us from where they’d had to leave their car. Everybody started talking at once, pointing at Steven and then at me. One went directly to Steven and hand-cuffed him. The other came to check on me.

  “Are you hurt Miss?” he asked kindly.

  Miss? I haven’t been called that in over a decade.

  “I think so. My ex-husband over there just scared me this time. I just got out of the hospital from the last time he attacked me. And—our divorce was just finalized. I’m sorry we made a scene. Please don’t arrest me. My dog Toby was just keeping him off me. Please don’t take him or anything.” The tears rolling down my cheeks didn’t even have to be faked, as I leaned down to hug Toby. I was that shaken—and angry.

  “Your ex-husband won’t be bothering you anymore today, Ma’am. We’ll see to that.”

  “I have a personal protection order against him that’s still in effect, signed by Judge Garland. It’s in my bag right there,” I said, pointing.

  “May I see it please?” he asked. I handed it over. He looked at it quickly, turned to his partner who had Steven on his feet and said, “PPO violation. Assault with intent. Repeat offender.” His partner nodded and turned Steven towards the patrol car, reading him his rights. Steven argued and complained as he was led away. I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. I doubted very much I had to worry about him again anytime soon.

  Rand came up beside me and put his hand on my shoulder. I jumped a little. I could feel it! I have to remember to ask Rand about that. Then it dawned on me—in order to hit Steven the way he did, Rand must have made himself corporeal. Solid.

  ***

  It was a good hour later before the police finally left, taking Steven with them. I thanked everyone who had checked on me, gave statements to the police, and offered me rides home. I guess I only cried earlier because I was just so mad. I do that, I can’t help it. But I was fine. In fact, I was better than fine. Suddenly, I felt like I had a team!

  While I held Toby’s leash, he and Jake horsed around in front of us. We all walked the black-topped path headed slowly towards Sam’s house. “What happens now Rand? Cruella ran off and left Toby at the first inkling of paranormal contact. I’m surprised she didn’t wet her pants. I kind of thought she would!”

  He laughed. “Toby’s better off without her. She just wanted bragging rights with her friends for having a ‘rescue dog’ because that’s what they all do. She doesn’t know the first thing about caring for an animal.”

  “Now it seems I have two dogs I owe big-time. And you . . . I can’t thank you enough for defending me either.” I reached out for his hand to give it a squeeze, but wound up sticking my hand right through it instead. “Hey, why could I feel your hand on my shoulder at the bench, but I can’t touch you now?” I asked.

  He laughed again. “Spirits consist of pure energy. That’s why your hand just passed right through mine. I wasn’t expecting you to try to touch me. Yours probably felt cold afterwards, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Depending upon how strong we are, we can solidify that energy momentarily. I may have overdone it with my fist earlier. Your ex-husband got smacked with something that may have felt more like a chunk of firewood than a fist, I’m afraid. Jake can do it too. Did you see how he flopped Steven around like a ragdoll? It takes a lot out of us to do that. He’s playing with Toby right now, but deep down he’s wishing for a nap.”

  “That’s what Elmer told me. He said it took a couple of days for him to regain his strength. Does it make you tired too?” I asked.

  “I barely feel it, but I’m a whole bunch younger than Jake, and I’m in really good shape. I mean I was.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” I teased, winking and then blushing like a sixteen year old girl instead of the forty year old divorcée I was. “But now you and Toby are homeless. Listen, I’m staying with my best friend, even though I have—had, a house right behind hers—ah, it’s a long story. If I invite you inside, can you both be gentlemen while we figure this all out?”

  “Absolutely!” he smiled.

  I sure hope I know what I’m getting into!

  “Elmer?” I called as we all entered the house, after making sure Sam’s car wasn’t in the garage. “We have company! Can you join us please?”

  For once, he materialized
where I was looking, right between myself and Rand. “Well hello friends! What a surprise this is. Welcome to m—to where we live.” He smiled genuinely at them both. “Hi Toby. How’s my buddy today?”

  “He’s probably still trying to get the taste of Steven’s arm out of his mouth,” I told him.

  Startled, Elmer spun to face me. “Oh no, has something bad happened? Are you hurt again Roxanne?”

  “No, no. I’m fine, but we have quite a story for you! You might want to sit down for this one.”

  Elmer relaxed and turned back to Rand, offering for him to sit down at the snack bar beside him. I moved around to the kitchen side, so I could face them both to talk. I held up my mangled phone to show Elmer, and then lay it on the counter somewhat disgustedly. Jake lay down in his spot in front of the slider and Toby got as close to him as he could without risking the frostbite sensation by touching him. They all appeared to be waiting for me to speak, so I did.

  “We’d only just gotten to the park and settled in when Steven came charging right up to me . . .”

  I recounted everything as accurately as I could for Elmer. I told them everything, including the verbal exchanges, my observations of the crowd, and all the details that Rand hadn’t seen. The bit about the spark of power really caught both of their attention. I told them from my prospective what had happened when Cruella came running up and slapped Toby with the leash. “I was surprised when she got up. I thought she was down for the count! Jake had just about enough. She picked the wrong time and place to hit Toby that time! But—when she could get up, she ran off and didn’t even look back. She abandoned Toby, like we’d hoped, but under different circumstances. Bottom line Elmer, Rand and Toby are here now. Sam is in for a surprise when she sees Toby. I’ll tell her he saved me though, and she’ll be more than fine with him staying. I’m sure of it. Everything worked out better than we could have hoped for. And Steven’s back in jail!” I stopped at the end of my overly excited recounting, suddenly embarrassed. Maybe it was time to lay off the caffeine.