by Rose Pressey
“I completely understand,” he said. “But they can’t stop you from being on the cover.”
They most certainly could stop me by threatening to fire me.
“Can I let you know tomorrow?” I asked.
“Absolutely, just give me a call,” he said, handing me his business card.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate you thinking of me. I’m flattered.”
“We’d love to have you featured in our magazine,” he said.
I tried to hand the magazine back to him.
He waved his hand. “Oh, keep the magazine.”
“Thank you,” I said with a smile.
Darren stood up from the table and headed toward the doors. Tammy was staring. I knew she was curious and wanted to know what was going on with this guy. Just as he reached for the door to leave, a nearby book toppled to the floor. He stopped and looked to the left, peering down at the book on the floor. He looked back at me with a shocked expression.
I shrugged. “Happens all the time.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s impressive. This place is more haunted than I thought.”
I moved over to the book and picked it up off the floor, placing it back onto the shelf. “We just get used to it.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said with a smile.
When he walked out of the library, I headed over to the reference desk. After the pencil and now this, it looked as if the paranormal activity had returned. And what was even worse was Tammy had seen the book fly off the shelf. Now I would have to tell her about the pencil on my desk. What was I thinking? I’d just keep that part a secret. She’d never find out.
“So what was that all about?” Tammy asked.
“He wants me to be on the cover of the magazine,” I said.
“Oh, my God, you’re famous,” she said. “Always knew it would happen someday.”
I chuckled. “I hardly think that this magazine will make me famous.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised. When one thing happens it just starts rolling in after that. The next thing you know you’ll have your own show.”
“I don’t want my own show.”
“Of course you do,” she said.
“I do?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” Tammy said with a wave of her hand.
“Nevertheless, I’m not sure if I should do it. I didn’t tell him yes. I told him I’d let him know tomorrow,” I said.
“You didn’t tell him yes? Why not?”
“Because the library board wouldn’t like it.”
“But they can’t tell you not to be in the magazine. It’s just an article with maybe a mention of the library. No big deal.”
“It might be a little more than that,” I said.
“Think of how good it would be for the tour. Not to mention the new haunted museum.” Tammy raised an eyebrow.
“I forgot about the museum. Maybe I should call and ask the board though.”
“You should just do it and deal with the consequences later,” Tammy said.
“One of the consequences could be getting fired. That would be terrible.”
“I don’t think they would fire you. You’re too great around here. They can’t risk losing you.”
“I think you’re a bit biased,” I said.
I received a text message.
I think you should do it.
I looked around to see if Annie had appeared again. She sat on the computer table again. At least the young man had gone by now.
“Annie thinks I should do it,” I said.
Tammy looked in the wrong direction, but it was close enough since she couldn’t see Annie anyway. Another text came through.
It would be fun and great for the library.
“I suppose that’s true,” I said. “I’ll give it thought the rest of the day and let him know my decision tomorrow.”
“In the meantime, what about the spooky stuff that just happened?” Tammy asked. “I saw that book fly off the shelf. Is it starting again?”
“Oh, I was hoping you hadn’t noticed that,” I said.
“It was kind of hard not to notice that book flying off the shelf and landing on the floor. We’re lucky it didn’t hit that guy.”
Another text message came through.
I think there’s a new ghost here.
Annie’s message sent a shiver down my spine.
“Have you seen a ghost, Annie?” I asked.
“A ghost?” Tammy asked loudly.
Oops. I shouldn’t have asked in front of Tammy.
“Well, there’s always a ghost here at some point, right?” I tried to sound casual, as if there was nothing to worry about.
Yeah, right. Tammy wouldn’t fall for that.
I saw the ghost earlier today. The ghost was mean-looking too.
I didn’t want Tammy to see that text.
Luckily for me, the library doors opened, and a few customers came through. This would temporarily cause Tammy to be distracted and not ask more questions about the ghost I’d mentioned or the book flying from the shelf. My luck didn’t last long though. Movement caught my attention. Tammy noticed it too. A pencil rolled across the top of the reference desk. Tammy and I watched in silence as it fell off the desk and moved across the floor until finally coming to a stop. It was exactly as I’d seen in my office.
“Um, what did I just see?” Tammy asked.
“Okay, I guess I can’t make an excuse for that one. Apparently, we have a bit of paranormal activity. It’s nothing to be worried about though,” I said as I picked up the pencil.
“Nothing to worry about? That’s easy for you to say.”
The library door opened again. Brannon walked through. As usual, he looked handsome with his dark hair and chiseled features. He wore his white dress shirt, blue tie, and black dress pants. My heart always went pitty-pat when I saw him. When he flashed that smile, anyone would swoon. Maybe I was a bit biased, but I thought he was dashing.
Brannon immediately came over and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Oh, I was in the area and thought I would stop in and say hi.” Brannon tossed his hand up. “Good morning, Tammy.”
“Another spooky morning,” she said as she walked away with an arm full of books.
“Well, I’m glad you stopped by,” I said.
“What was Tammy talking about?” Brannon asked.
I had hoped he wouldn’t ask about that, although I’d known he would.
“Just a bit of activity has popped up today. Nothing to worry about. You know how those things work,” I said with a wave of my hand.
Brannon raised an eyebrow. “Are you being completely honest?”
“A pencil rolled across the desk and a book flew off the shelf. Would you call that anything to worry about? I mean, that’s all happened here before.”
Maybe I sounded a bit too defensive. I was never good at hiding stuff. Especially from a police detective.
“Tell him the exciting news,” Tammy said as she walked back through the area.
“What exciting news?” he asked.
“I’ve been asked to be on the cover of Paranormal Monthly.” I flashed the magazine to him.
“Seriously?” he said, taking the magazine out of my hand. “How did this happen? I want all the details.”
I explained to him about Darren Damon coming in to talk to me today. Brannon was encouraging me to do it. That made yet another yes vote. So far there were no nay votes. Maybe that would come from the library board.
“I told him I’d give an answer in the morning.” I handed someone a book after checking them out.
“Well, I know you’ll do what’s best for you,” Brannon said. “I should get to work.”
“Before you go, I need to talk to you,” I said. “In my office.”
He raised an eyebrow. “This sounds serious.”
Once back at my office, I said, �
��I think the library is haunted again. Maybe the portal is open.”
I explained everything that had happened. Sometimes my solution was to ignore the hauntings. Brannon never liked that idea. He’d want to investigate this further.
Chapter 7
By the end of the day, Tammy and the other assistants had already gone. I had just a few things to finish up and then I would head over to the cemetery for tonight’s tour. I was standing at the reference desk when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Glancing to my left, I spotted a dark-haired woman. She didn’t look my way. I assumed that she had stayed behind, hidden within the stacks, unaware that the library was closing. The doors were locked now, and I’d have to let her out. As I watched her, I noticed that there was something different about her.
The woman was dressed in a style of clothing that nobody nowadays wore. It was period dress from the 1800s. She moved down the aisle, completely unaware that I was watching. I had to follow her to see exactly what she was up to.
Was there an event in town that she was dressed for? Or was I seeing a ghost? She walked toward the front of the library away from the stacks. Still she didn’t look my way. Maybe I should call out to her. When she made it to the entrance of the staircase she turned to the right as if headed upstairs.
I hurried away from the reference desk and over to the staircase that led up to the second and third floors. She moved quickly. Too fast to be alive. In my line of vision, I caught just the edge of her white dress as she moved around the landing and up the staircase. I rushed up the staircase after her, but I didn’t say a word yet. I just wanted to get her reaction first.
When I reached the second-floor landing, I spotted her at the top of the staircase. Next she went into the main area of the second floor. There were more tables and chairs up here with books and periodicals. She didn’t act as if she knew I was there. She looked as real as any person. Now I questioned whether she was a patron at the library who was actually of the living world.
What was she going to do next? Was she going for a book? Or would she just disappear right before my eyes? I kind of wanted to say something before that happened.
“Excuse me,” I called out. “I’m sorry the library is closed.”
Abruptly she stopped. I froze. Her actions startled me. I hadn’t expected her to stop like that. Slowly she started to turn around and face me. My heart beat faster and momentarily I thought about running. Yes, I’d dealt with the ghosts in the past, but I’d never got used to being confronted by one.
The woman stared right at me now. And I was still frozen on the spot. After a few seconds, I forced myself to speak.
I stumbled over my words before I finally muttered, “Who are you?”
She didn’t answer as she continued to stare at me with a somewhat blank look in her eyes. I didn’t know if she was really looking at my face or looking behind me. I spun around to see if someone was behind me. No one was there, thank goodness.
I turned around again to face the ghost. She was gone. I looked all around the area, but I didn’t see her anywhere. Now I’d got my answer. She was definitely a ghost. I’d been almost positive before seeing that move anyway. There was no way she could have moved that quickly into hiding.
Just to be sure though, I slowly walked up and down all of the book stacks. There was no sign of the woman. Who was she and why had she been here at the library? I’d never seen her before. I would definitely have remembered seeing her. Now I had a new ghost. Tammy would love that. I meant that in the most sarcastic way possible.
A portal that allowed ghosts to move in and out of this world was located on the first floor of the library. Thank goodness the demonologist had closed the portal. I hoped it would never be open again because we didn’t need ghosts in and out of the library like that. But now I wondered if that portal hadn’t opened up again. Was that how she’d gotten here, or had she used some other means?
Was this the ghost Annie had told me about? Did Annie see this ghost now? Where was Annie anyway? Jane Austen was nowhere to be found either. It was like they were hiding out. I guessed I couldn’t blame them, but I didn’t want to leave them here with an unfriendly ghost.
“Annie, are you around?” I asked.
I held my phone in my hand, waiting for her to respond via text message. When I looked down at the screen it was black. I touched the screen, but nothing happened. Had my phone died? I had just charged it earlier. There was no way the battery could be drained that quickly. Unless the ghost had used it for energy.
Now Annie wouldn’t be able to talk to me. I tried to turn the phone on to see if it had accidentally shut off, but it just wasn’t working. I went back over to the staircase and peered down across the banister to see if the ghost was anywhere in sight. She was still nowhere around so I headed back down to the first floor. I’d plug my phone into the charger to see if I could get it to work. I had to talk to Annie before I left.
“Annie, are you around?” I asked again as I walked over to the mystery section.
This was where Annie liked to hang out the most. Still there was no sign of her, and I worried that the ghost had chased her away.
“I need to talk to you, Annie.”
A noise sounded from somewhere behind me and I spun around. There was nothing there. All right, maybe I just needed to talk to this other ghost and tell the ghost to leave me alone and quit playing games. I walked back over to the reference desk and checked to see if there were any messages from Annie. At least my phone lit up now, so I assumed that the ghost had actually drained the battery earlier.
I placed my hands on my hips. “All right, ghost. Don’t play games, like making spooky noises, messing with the pencils, and tossing books off the shelves. If you have some message for me then come forward right now and tell me.”
I sounded brave, sure, but in reality, I was shaking on the inside. The ghost hadn’t come forward. Maybe she was gone. Could I get that lucky? I picked up my phone and headed across the library. I wanted to check the area where the portal was located. Not that I could see if it was open or not, but maybe there would be some sign of a ghostly presence around. If there was in fact a ghost staying here now, I just hoped she was friendly. Though the way she’d looked at me hadn’t been all that friendly.
I stepped over to that section of the library and stared up at the wall. Nope. Everything looked exactly the same. I had seen mysterious spooky lights floating around there in the past. However, there was nothing of that sort now. I gave up and headed back to the reference desk.
I still wanted to talk to Annie before I left the library for the night. I looked at the time on my phone. I really needed to get out of here in the next five minutes and head for the cemetery. I didn’t want to be late for my own tour.
I put food and water into Jane Austen’s dishes and then called out to Annie.
“I’m leaving now. Are you going to say goodbye?” I asked.
I checked my phone but there was no message. Sometimes Annie had a habit of leaving the area if there was another ghost invading her territory. I assumed that was what had happened this time.
Jane Austen jumped up on the reference desk and meowed loudly. I rubbed her head and then she hopped back down and over to her food dish. She didn’t seem to be the least bit concerned about another ghost being around.
Maybe Annie would text me later and let me know what was going on at the library while I wasn’t there. She was mostly quiet when I wasn’t around the library, but sometimes she sent me messages when I was out and about or even at home. Plus, I had installed cameras in the library. I’d be able to check in later to see if there was any suspicious activity.
I stopped at the door and looked out over the library again. Everything was quiet and peaceful. Jane sat on top of the desk cleaning her paws. I smiled and turned off the lights, though I left one on so that Annie would have some light to see by when she roamed the stacks. I locked the door behind me and headed out across the street.
>
As I walked by I glanced over at the graveyard. It was one of those spooky fall evenings. Perfect for a haunted tour. Leaves had started to change and fall, slowly drifting to the ground. A crispness settled in the air. I inhaled it and thought about how much I loved this time of year.
There were no spooky signs of haunting in the graveyard tonight. I headed down the sidewalk for the cemetery. A cobblestone alleyway next to the tavern led behind the buildings along the street to the Devil’s Moon Cemetery. I had to stop off at the tavern first to pick up the flashlights. It would be dark soon and we would need the flashlights to finish out the tour.
I glanced over my shoulder a couple of times, feeling like somebody was walking behind me. No one was there. That was odd. It wasn’t uncommon for me to have a ghost behind me. I mean, it had happened before, but it had been awhile. I thought back to last night when I’d been at the abandoned building. Could I have brought something from there back with me? I supposed anything was possible. It seemed as if Dana had brought something with her from that building too.
I had reached the tavern now. The stone structure dated back to 1754. It had been used as a stagecoach stop in the town long before a lot of the buildings were even around. Though this town was full of old buildings. Even Revolutionary War soldiers were buried in the graveyard.
I stepped into the tavern and immediately spotted Tammy behind the bar. She waved at me to come over. Based on the wave it looked as if she had something to tell me. I hoped it was good news. I could use that right now. After the spooky encounters I’d had today at the library any news would be a relief. Not to mention the scary stuff last night was still on my mind.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I sat on the stool. I still had a few minutes to chitchat.
“Well, you’re going to have a large group of people tonight.” Tammy wiped down the bar.
“I am?” I asked. “That’s exciting. How many people bought tickets?”
“Ten,” she said.
Wow, that was the biggest group I’d ever had. The biggest before tonight was eight. “Do you think they’ll really all show up?”
“I don’t see why not.” Tammy pulled out the bag of flashlights and set it on top of the bar. “Here you go.”
