by Daria Kacie
“Shake it off Lizzy, don’t get sucked in! It’s a date…
A D-A-T-E, that’s it,” she said aloud as she stepped up to Karen’s door.
Thank goodness, Karen’s closet yielded a perfect little black dress. Lizzy arrived home around midnight and still felt keyed up. She took one more look at the dress, held it up in front of her, looked at it in the mirror and gave it another stamp of approval and then hung it carefully in the closet. Her ‘dress’ problem solved, her thoughts turned back to Jennifer. Her tight chest and stomach alerted her that she felt anxious about Jennifer’s situation. She didn’t want to wait to do the blessing, but had something going on every night of the week until Friday. She felt selfish and that made her feel bad. Should she have cancelled her date with Dan and helped her friend instead? Jennifer would have thought her ridiculous for even thinking it.
Lizzy tossed and turned unable to get comfortable or settle into sleep. She sighed, every time she looked at the clock, just to discover 15 minutes more had passed, 1:15 a.m., 1:30 a.m., 1:45 a.m. This is absolutely maddening, she thought. Finally, at 2:30 a.m. she turned on the light and sat up in bed. She prayed for Jennifer’s safety and meditated on Jennifer and her family. She decided to do a remote house blessing.
Not knowing if it would work, she figured something would be better than nothing. She learned remote energy healing through her Reiki certification courses. In her studies to gain more insight spiritually, Lizzy had been ordained as a minister twice. The first time, she was enrolled in the Hypnotherapy Institute and at the conclusion of her certification was ordained through the school. The second time she was ordained through her mentor’s church. She attended a rigorous year long, Ordination course of study which included gaining a certification as a Reiki Master.
Reiki, a powerful form of healing energy work, created a positive connection to the creator and flowed through the practitioner through to the subject. A Reiki Master is taught to perform energy work remotely. Lizzy had performed Reiki at a distance but never had tried anything like this. She made her mind quiet and began to pray. She imagined Jennifer’s house in as much detail as possible as though she were there. She did her blessing and admonished any negative spirit or energy to leave the home. Lizzy imagined walking through Jennifer’s house and performing the prayer and blessing in each room. She placed Reiki symbols of power, emotional healing and protection, in the corners of each room before she left for the next room. She blessed Jennifer’s bedroom last. When she entered the room she brought down a stream of light from the heavens and surrounded her friend and her husband in a ball of light as they slept. She asked for protection and then blessed the room. Lizzy commanded that the “Watcher” to leave and did command it in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She always brought a blessing in from the “Mother” as well because it never felt balanced in her mind if she didn’t. She stayed mentally in the room as the next half hour passed. Finally, at the end, she brought in a very powerful clearing Reiki symbol and put it in the corner of the bedroom where the spirit had been living. She finished with an “Amen.”
It was 4:00 a.m. and she didn’t care. She felt so much better. There had been a gnawing feeling all day that the issue needed to be addressed immediately. She didn’t know if the Reiki energy worked or if what she did had any effect but felt lighter now that she had prayed for her friend’s protection. Hopefully that will hold her until Friday when I can get there and do a formal blessing, thought Lizzy as she snuggled into her pillow. She glanced at the clock one more time, 4:05 am. Please let me fall asleep quickly.
Tuesday, Lizzy’s back to back appointments and evening training class pushed her arrival home past 8:00 p.m. Wednesday morning she found a moment and called Jennifer.
“Hey Jen, how’s it going?”
“Really good, Chickade! How did the dress search go?” Jennifer was ready for plan B emergency shopping if Lizzy hadn’t found a dress at Karen’s.
“I found one, thankfully! It’s a nice little black number, it should be just fine,” Lizzy loved how considerate and caring Jennifer always seemed. She’s worried about my dress when she has some dark mass roaming around her bedroom! She is a true friend.
“Enough about me, I wanted to call and see how things are in the bedroom,” said Lizzy.
“Well, I never!” Jennifer laughed loudly. “What did you want to know about exactly? I am assuming you don’t want naked details.”
“Oh my God! I don’t want any naked details whatsoever you kook! I’m talking about the dark thing in your bedroom not your husband!” Jennifer always knew how to get her going.
“Actually,” Jennifer said in a low serious tone, “It’s gone.”
“What do you mean it’s gone? How can you be sure?”
“I’ve been living with this thing for months. It’s gone I tell you. The room feels better, no being chased to the loo, no dark shadow thing in the corner, it’s gone. I woke up to go pee Monday night and checked around and it was gone. Last night, same thing, woke up as usual around 3:30 am and it was not there. I could see all the lights coming in the window and I was not met at the bathroom door by Dark Fido!”
“That is actually pretty exciting because I stayed up Monday night. I couldn’t sleep; I was so worried about you. I prayed and did a ‘spiritual walk through’ of your home. After we talked, I just had an uneasy feeling I could not shake. I couldn’t get over there until Friday, so I decided to pray for your protection and I did an a remote walk through blessing of your home. I used Reiki energy and around 4:00 a.m. called it a done deal. I was hoping it would help somehow since Friday seemed decades away!”
“Whatever you did, worked! I feel so much better and even though I still woke up at 3:30 am, I was able to go right back to sleep. I slept soundly for the first time in months. Last night I had the same pleasant experience. Thank you so much Lizzy!”
“Maybe I can come with you on some of your cases,” Jennifer said. She wanted in on the action.
“Cases? I don’t have cases! I did help with the Sunday Stewart incident simply because it affected Karen first. I wanted to help you because you are dear to me and I can’t have shadowy figures roaming around your room, if I can help stop it. I certainly don’t have cases!” Lizzy tantalized by the idea knew she did want “cases”.
“You want to be a ghost hunter, Jennifer?” Lizzy said with a little sarcasm in her tone.
“I want to help and I’m fascinated by it all,” Jennifer replied, ignoring the tone.
“Ok, but you weren’t even willing to do your own house blessing without me being there. So, you are telling me that you are willing to go into strangers’ houses to seek out paranormal issues?”
“So? It’s different when it’s your own…haunting,” Jennifer said. She felt justified in the apprehension she felt doing her own blessing.
“I’ve been tormented for months by that thing. I didn’t feel strong enough, I guess, to handle it myself. I’m not sure I even knew I could do something until we talked. I think it is a perfect example of why you need to continue this work.”
“What do you mean?” Lizzy asked.
“Well, I’m a normal every day person who found myself in a strange situation that I didn’t know how to handle it. The we talked and I felt some hope. I’m sure there are others out there who are going through the same emotions and confusion.”
“I agree that it is different when it is happening to you. Karen was with Janet and I when we kind of got sucked into ‘Sunday’s case’ if you will. We finished with it and Karen announced that she is not interested in pursuing any type of ghost or paranormal investigating.”
“Why?” Jennifer was baffled that Karen didn’t want to be part of something so spectacular.
“She feels like there is too much drama and risk. After the experience with Sunday’s spirit attaching to so many different people, she doesn’t want to take the chance of accidently bringing something home.”
“Hmmm, I do see her poi
nt but I think the opportunity to help people and souls, outweighs that for me. Aren’t there ways for us to protect ourselves from things attaching to us?”
“I don’t know all the in’s and out’s, Jennifer. I would think as long as we bless ourselves and ask for strength and protection, we should be able to ward off hitchhikers. That said, I’m no expert on this. I’ve only started researching the subject deeply this last month or so when all this happened. I don’t want to endanger anyone or cause something to happen where a spirit attaches to them and then torments them or their family. That’s a lot of responsibility.”
“In other words, proceed at your own risk,” said Jennifer.
“Yes,” said Lizzy, her excitement growing with the thought of having Jennifer on board.
Jennifer had been raised Catholic and like many Catholics had pulled away from the Church after feeling judged. Her spiritual core and devotion was strong.
“All right, when or if I have something come up, I will call you and Janet and we’ll see what we can see, and do what we can do,” said Lizzy.
“Wow, you’re profound,” Jennifer said with a snicker. “I’ve gotta go. Good luck with Officer Dan tomorrow.”
“Don’t remind me!”
The idea of squeezing into the little black dress and making small talk all night with a cop sounded like as much fun as slamming her hand in a door at the moment.
What should I do if he asks about Karen’s incident? What in the world am I supposed to tell him? I was at my friend’s side to help her through a ghostly encounter. Sounds ridiculous, no wonder no one talks about their experiences, they think everyone will think they are crazy. Lizzy forced herself to think of something else before she went crazy.
Chapter 19
A couple of minutes before 7:00 p.m. Lizzy thought maybe she would luck out and Dan wouldn’t show. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been stood up before. In her early 20’s it became a game it got so bad. She always had secondary plans. Just when she was thinking she might be in the clear, Dan pulled up in a black Chevy Camaro.
Really? she thought, I love that car!
Dan stood about 5’ 11” with light brown hair and big brown eyes. Yes, Lizzy had noticed the day she met him at Karen’s house. She was sure he whitened his teeth because when he smiled he glowed; not in a bad way, but a little bit in a ‘let me kiss your baby’ political kind of way. He was built like a brick. She had to admit, she liked it. Suddenly, her stomach leapt up and did a summersault.
“Shit,” she whispered to herself as she watched the hunk of Dan walk up to her door, “now I’m nervous.”
She opened the door, Dan stood on the other side with a big white shining grin, holding out a single yellow rose.
“My Lady,” Dan said with a silly English accent.
“Oh, thank you. It’s beautiful.”
“You look beautiful! Yellow is for a new beginning and happiness, I thought it was appropriate,” Dan motioned her to the car.
Lizzy fumbled around as she locked her front door. She felt completely self-conscious, stomach in a knot, Lizzy turned and walked to the car pretending to be confident.
“You look very gallant yourself by the way,” she said as she grabbed his arm.
The dark charcoal suit with a red silk tie set off Dan’s tan skin and blond hair. Dan opened Lizzy’s door and she slid inside.
“Your car makes me giddy,” Lizzy blurted out.
“How so?”
“This is my favorite car, although I would want a white one. I go online sometimes and fantasize about it,” Lizzy caught herself talking really fast. Whoa Nellie, slow it down he’s just a guy, she said to herself as she patted the side of her leg.
“I love it too, that’s why I bought it! Lizzy, you look very nice. Thank you for accepting my invitation. I didn’t think you would call to be completely honest,” he looked over at Lizzy with his big brown eyes. “I asked you to call me the first day we met but you didn’t.”
“Well, you said to call if we heard anything or figured out who was in Karen’s house and we didn’t hear anything. I mean, we kind of did, but it wasn’t phone call worthy.”
“Wait a minute, you know who was in the house?” Dan’s head whipped around and Lizzy could see he was concerned.
“Uhm, wait a minute, let’s not talk about that just yet,” Lizzy said. “I mean, I didn’t realize you were interested in me and that’s why I didn’t call.”
“Huh, I gave out all the signals. Your friend Karen got it.”
“I’m not Karen,” Lizzy said in a very staccato rhythm.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant, I was giving out the signals and I had hoped you would call.”
“Dan, where it comes to men and dating I’ll just lay my cards on the table, I’m thick. So it’s best to be very clear with me about what you want, because if you are being coy there is a good chance I’ll miss it.”
“Hmmm, as intense and detailed as you were at your friend’s house I’m a little surprised that you missed the clues.”
“I was a little surprised by all of this. I looked a wreck that day and of course, my charm became obvious, I’m sure, when you noticed my shirt was inside out! Lord help me!”
“You were very sweet. It was clear you had rushed over there. I watched you take care of your friend and I could just tell you had a good heart and I just liked what I saw,” Dan said.
“It’s weird,” Lizzy said rolling her eyes.
“Well dear, you clean up pretty nice anyway,” Dan laughed and patted her on the knee and then left his hand there for the rest of the trip to the restaurant.
Lizzy’s heart pounded under her little black dress. She could hear its rhythm in her own ears.
“Now tell me what you heard about your friend’s intruder,” Dan nudged back to the subject Lizzy was trying so hard to avoid.
“Dan, this is a first date and if I go into it you’re going to think I’m off balance,” Lizzy sighed and felt she could see the date ending before it even started.
“Nonsense! Tell me what you know little lady.”
“How about I tell you over dinner since we are almost there.”
The host, dressed in a tuxedo, seated the couple at a lovely table by a window overlooking the mountains. The Royal Crown sat on top of one of the taller hillsides in the county. It overlooked the valley and the mountains. The setting sun cast brilliant colors across the valley. The restaurant planted a Royal Garden on the grounds around the building. Lizzy thought it looked like something out of the renaissance. As the weather got warmer, local musicians played on the large stone patio. “This place is lovely,” Lizzy said admiring the whole package.
Lizzy could see Dan, the cop, waiting for the rundown on Karen and Lizzy’s discovery of who had been in the house.
“All right Dan, buckle up it’s going to be a bumpy ride,” she said with a slight grin on her face. She slowly began the story of Sunday Stewart, the hitchhiking ghost.
Dan listened intently. Lizzy couldn’t tell if he believed her or wanted to cancel dinner and take her straight home.
“It’s a very interesting story, Lizzy and it is clear you believe that it happened.”
“So you don’t believe me?” Lizzy tried not to be disappointed.
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, I just don’t believe in that kind of stuff. I believe there is a logical explanation for all of it and it doesn’t include ghosts.”
“Really? You think there is a logical explanation” Lizzy said obviously annoyed. “You believe that some kids broke into Karen’s house, turned all the water on, took all the pictures off the walls and put her chairs in the living room in the symbol of a cross? This is logical to you?” Lizzy did not hide her exasperation.
“Lizzy, the answer is yes. That could have happened. They may have been trying to make it look ‘ghostly’.”
“So, you think the same kids beat us over to Tina’s house? Then, they motored on over to Tom and Deanna Hoskins
before we got there too? Dan, I know what I experienced when we were at Josh’s office. I also know that no one is having any more paranormal trouble since we helped move Sunday into the light. That’s what I know.”
“Lizzy, I don’t think you’re crazy, ok. I just don’t believe in ghosts. I am sure many of the things that have happened have a perfectly logical explanation. Is this difference of opinion going to ruin my chances for a second date?”
Lizzy wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn that Dan actually batted his thick lashed brown eyes at her. She had to admit, it did kind of melt her inside. This was not anything she wanted to get in the way of a potential relationship.
“You want a second date?” asked Lizzy.
“I’d like it to be an option,” Dan replied.
“I would like to see you again” said Lizzy. “That said, I want to be completely upfront, I plan to pursue this Ghost Investigation and House Cleansing endeavor. If it is going to bother you we should probably go our separate ways, don’t you think?” asked Lizzy.
“You can ghost hunt all you want Lizzy, it is neither here nor there to me,” Dan said with a shrug. “I don’t see any reason for it to impede us getting to know each other better.”
Lizzy felt relieved when hearing it. As much as she wanted to avoid the whole date, she now found herself, of course, liking him after all.
Lizzy thought she heard someone calling her name. She looked up as Josh Stewart approached the table with a tall, beautiful blond woman. His dark blue suit set off his black hair and blue eyes. ‘Eye candy’, flitted through Lizzy’s thoughts. They both looked sharp. Of course, everyone at the Royal Crown looked great, as they were dressed to the nines.
“Lizzy, I thought that was you. I can’t believe I’ve run into you here!” Josh said as he strode up to the table smiling ear to ear. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m Josh Stewart and this is my wife Cynthia.” He reached out and shook Dan’s hand.
