Sight Unseen Complete Series Box Set

by James M Matheson

"Nothing," Katie said. She thumped back against the seat and gazed out as they passed by the home of Psychic Diana.

  "Psychic Diana. Does she wear a turban and robes?"

  Eddie laughed out loud. "No, actually, she dresses in normal clothes and is a nice lady. Raises a lot of money for charity, especially the school. She's pretty normal."

  Katie let out a 'hmph' as the cab struggled to get up the steep drive to the house. Eddie was still gabbing away: "Can you imagine back in the late 1800s a horse having to pull a wagon up here? It must have darn near killed the horses..."

  Katie tuned him out. As they turned the corner she saw ladders all over the place, a pickup truck loaded with junk and garbage and at least a dozen men walking around. She was impressed.

  "Thanks for the ride, Eddie," she said. "Keep the change."

  She turned to walk away and Eddie piped up, "Hey, do you like Italian food? I know a great place I'd love to show you..."

  Katie blushed. Awkward. "Uh, thanks, Eddie, but I'm seeing someone at the moment, but I really appreciate you asking."

  "A guy's gotta ask or kick himself for not trying. Have a nice day." He pulled out and drove away.

  "Hey, Katie!" Big John bellowed from the front door. "I've got some great news for you."

  "Hit me with the good news, John!"

  "We are almost done with the outside, just need to paint up the front tomorrow. We have to do some repair work around the chimney tomorrow or maybe the next day. Looks like there's a leak we'll fix up. Then the roofers will do the roof next week, ahead of schedule--"

  "Wow, that is great, John!" Katie said. She was impressed that it was at least a week ahead of schedule. "Why so many guys here today?"

  "Well, let me finish first. We'd like to get guys in tomorrow to work on the upstairs. That ceilin' is a mess. That's gonna take some plaster work, but I got the best guy for that. He's not fast. In fact, he's kinda slow, but nobody can touch him. It's like I went back in time to the 1800s to get him."

  "Fabulous."

  "Okay. Another job my boys are working on got stalled on a permit. I don't like my boys not workin', on account they've got families to feed, so I figured I'd get their asses here. Didn't think you'd mind."

  John rubbed his nose on his sleeve. "Plants in front of the house are toast. As we spoke about, I'm gonna get you some nice new ones. Sorry 'bout that, they aren't cheap, but I got a good line on some nice plants."

  "How was your lunch meeting yesterday?" Katie asked. She didn't really care, but Big John was a loveable and caring man, so she thought the small talk would help.

  "Oh. Great. Those boys can eat me out of a lot of pizza. But they can share with me concerns they have and we all remain family. Some of these guys have been with me for thirty years. They are loyal," he said. Then he laughed.

  "What?"

  "Well, a couple of the boys are nervous about coming inside tomorrow on account of the ghosts." He let out a bellowing laugh.

  "Ghosts."

  "Well, old houses, some people think, have 'em. I said I'd tell you about Psychic Diana and get her to scare them away." He laughed more. He was having a great laugh over this.

  Katie wasn't laughing. It was annoying her. "I'm sorry, miss. I'm just having fun..."

  "Did Mel set you up for this? Are there hidden cameras here?"

  "No, cameras won't be set up until later--"

  "No, I mean are you playing a joke on me?"

  John looked uncomfortable. Uncomfortable like he'd just pissed off his client and would lose business over it. Like he'd talked about politics or religion when he shouldn't have.

  "No ma'am. Sorry if I have offended you. I'm--"

  Katie took a breath and realized she was overreacting. This is stupid, she thought. "No, John, it's okay. I'm just getting tired of being teased about ghosts. That's all. Really, I'm not mad at you."

  John let out a big sigh. "Okay, miss. I'm sorry. Anyways, I'm gonna get the guys movin' along. I'll be in later to fix up the security system."

  Katie felt safe in the house with everyone around, but the air seemed...thin. A feeling of it being hard to breathe at times. Not everywhere, just certain places. Like in front of the fireplace.

  Nonsense, girl. I'm just imagining this now that I know about the murders. There's no such thing as ghosts. Besides, this took place decades ago. Smarten up... she thought, giving herself a pep-talk.

  I need to pee. Katie went to the washroom on the main floor, but unfortunately one of the workers had used it before her.

  "Holy hell, what do you guys eat?" she asked out loud. She headed upstairs, and on the way up she ran her hand up the old bannister and wondered how many people had held this same one over the years. They're sure going to look magnificent when they get a cleaning and new coat of stain.

  The bathroom door clunked behind her and she quickly sat down. A slight draft was coming in through the old windowsill. Another thing that would need to be fixed. The air was fresh and she could smell the ever-so-faint scent of lavender.

  Frozen in place, Katie looked at the bottom of the door as an unmistakable shadow passed by.

  "I'm in the bathroom. Who's there, please?" she said, loudly.

  The scent became stronger. She took a deep breath and held it and felt her heart pounding on the left side of her neck.

  "Hello?"

  Katie stared at the bottom of the door. Whomever had gone by had gone in the direction of her bedroom. No mistaking that. If this was a joke, she was getting angry about it. Could it be a worker who didn't speak English? Not likely, she reasoned, as they'd at least say something.

  Katie took a deep breath, jumped up while simultaneously yanking up her jeans, and dashed for the door. Someone was about to get an earful of hell from a very upset woman.

  Her hand slammed the door handle and with a flick of her wrist she swung the door inward and dashed out into the hallway. The door smashed into the edge of the old lion claw tub and she darted down the hall, glancing quickly into Mel's room. There was nobody in there. She continued her motion into her bedroom.

  "I said, who's there?"

  Other than the sound of the workers outside, the house was silent.

  Skeptical of even her own thoughts, she walked towards the closet and swung the door open. Nothing. She peeked underneath her bed. Still nothing.

  I'm losing my mind. I am. Losing. My mind.

  She walked quickly back to Mel's room and did a double check. There was nobody in the room. She went and stood in the dark hallway looking both ways.

  The stairs, although very sturdy, gave a very distinct creak as you came up them. There was no way anybody could've come up or gone back down without her hearing.

  "That settles it. I'm nuts," she said. She wasn't sure whether she was half joking or half serious. She did know this: the house was getting to her.

  Katie headed back downstairs to the kitchen. She sat down in her chair and looked out the window. It was an old wooden chair, no padding. But it was the most comfortable chair she'd ever sat in in a kitchen. She leaned back and rested her arm on the kitchen table.

  There were many good hotels and motels in town. It wouldn't be the first time that she'd stayed in a beautiful hotel and used it as a write-off. It would be tax deductible, so maybe that's what she needed to do. As she was mulling it over, Katie glanced down at the kitchen table where she had dropped the business card. It was lying face down. She picked it up and turned it over and laughed.

  I cannot believe I'm thinking about calling in a psychic, she thought to herself. If she ever needed proof that she was nuts, the phone call would be that proof.

  Chapter 9

  The only room left available to book at the Sedona spa and hotel was a suite. Way too large for what she needed, but it was beautiful. The suite was large and spacious, with a living room and a separate bedroom. The living room overlooked the lake and was just five minutes from Mel's place.

  Mel would certainly be upset that she was booked into a
hotel. Katie was expecting that. But she just needed some time to be alone, away from the house, to think about things.

  She wanted this house gone. That she loved it was no question. But it was getting to her. The house seemed almost alive and resistant to change.

  If the house could talk, it would probably tell her to get out. She decided there and then--even before ordering room service--she would follow the min/max solution: do the minimum amount of work and get the maximum amount of benefit from it.

  Katie decided to treat herself. She ordered a filet mignon and garlic mashed potatoes with a side of veggies. And a bottle of wine.

  Katie pulled out the chair from the desk and brought it over to the window. It was a high-end office style chair of the type that she preferred. She sat down and watched the sun setting over the lake.

  She tilted the chair back slightly and put her feet up on the ledge of the windowsill. She felt a little guilty doing so, but for the amount of money that she was paying for the room and the ungodly cost of the meal, she deserved a little luxury.

  Katie started talking to herself out loud as she was prone to do when she was by herself and knew nobody could hear.

  "Okay. I'm agnostic. I'm not an atheist, but I can't wrap my head around there being a God. Therefore no heaven. Therefore no dead people to haunt me..."

  Katie held her left hand palm up as she spoke, like some sort of scale of justice. It would probably look weird to somebody watching, but it worked for her.

  "It's tragic, but those people died a long, long time ago. And dead people are dead," she said. She laughed out loud at the profundity of that statement. "Wow."

  She lowered her left hand and raised her right hand palm up. Time to stack some stuff on the other side of the scale.

  "Okay, this is silly, but if there are ghosts, why are they so upset? I'm fixing up the place, I'm restoring its natural beauty, the memories of these people will live on. Wouldn't that be what they want?"

  She dropped her arms and gazed out, watching the sunset on the horizon. She waited till it was almost jet black before she closed the curtains. Katie had started to get a little agitated at how long it was taking for the room service when suddenly the door knock occurred.

  "Good evening!" the young lady said. She rolled in a portable table, popped up the sides and removed the lid to show an absolutely gorgeously laid meal. The woman deftly popped the cork on the wine bottle and poured a sample. Katie waved off a taste test and signed the bill, adding a generous tip. "Thank you very much. Please give us a call when you're done and we'll come and collect the dishes. Have a good night."

  The steak was incredibly tender. It sliced like butter and melted in her mouth. She deserved it, she had earned it. Her wine was a local Merlot that paired perfectly with the steak. The garlic mashed potatoes were perfectly delicious.

  Katie hadn't realized how hungry she really was. She enjoyed every bite and was amazed at how quickly she ate. She rolled the portable table out into the hallway, closed and locked the door and stripped down for the night. She poured herself another glass of wine and hopped on her king-size bed.

  She picked up the business card again. She looked at it. Psychic Diana? Let's give this chick a call, she thought to herself.

  Maybe it was too late. It was 7:30 PM, after all. The phone rang three times and Katie considered hanging up, but then someone did pick up the phone.

  "Psychic Diana. How can I help you?"

  "Hey. I uhhhh... I've never done anything like this before. I'm calling to find out about how you do housecleaning?"

  The lady on the end of the line laughed. Hard. "Well, you won't catch me doing any housecleaning. My own place is a hard enough mess," Diana said.

  Both ladies laughed out loud for a minute. "Okay, okay. Sorry, that's not what I meant--"

  "That's okay. You're talking about house cleansing?"

  "Absolutely. You are highly recommended from a friend of mine by the name of Mel Wragg. But I have to tell you, I'm highly skeptical of the stuff. No offense."

  "No offense taken at all. When you do this kind of work you have to expect people to not understand it. But it's along the same lines as babies getting baptized, blessing burials, or thanksgiving prayers. It's much the same. Just think of it as a ritual. I'm the first to tell people that if you believe, great. If you don't believe, what does it hurt to have your house blessed?"

  "Cool. Are you a witch or something?"

  The woman laughed again. "No, I'm not which, not that there's anything wrong with them. Only a spiritual advisor--actually I'm a reverend, to be honest--and I can legally marry people, for example. And I am a psychic"

  "So how does a blessing work?"

  "It's pretty straightforward. I come to your house and I burn sage. Using a feather I wave the smoke into all areas of the house and I ask that God bless the house. God's divine energy will fill the house, and if there's any negative energies they will be gone."

  "Negative energies? Like ghosts or bogeymen?"

  Katie didn't realize it, but her negative approach was grating on Diana. It's one thing to question somebody, but it's another to be argumentative. Diana decided to take a different tack.

  "I'm assuming that this is a new house for you. But my intuition tells me that you don't intend to stay long. I feel like the house that you're looking at is quite large. Way more than you need or even feel comfortable in. Yes, that's it. I feel you're looking at an old house, very old..."

  Katie bit her lip. She was familiar with the old magic trick of cold reading. Diana had just described pretty much any house in the area. Maybe this was just one big con job after all. That said, Katie hadn't said what her name was, and her phone was blocked so no name would be showing up on Diana's caller ID. And even if she was quick enough to use a computer to look up the phone number, it would show that it was from out of state. She decided to listen to what the lady had to say.

  "I'm sensing a lot of heaviness at this house. Much tragedy has fallen on this home. There is a lot of negative energy there..."

  Katie was shaking her head. Such bull crap.

  "You bought the Blackstone house!" Diana said. The exclamation in her voice startled Katie.

  "Did Mel put you up to this? She highly recommended you, so she probably told you that I was buying the house and you probably deduced that it was me."

  "Look. I'm going to be blunt with you. I have a stellar reputation and no need to bullshit anybody. You obviously are not a believer, and that's fine. Let's agree not to waste each other's time. Have a good evening."

  Before Katie could utter a word Diana hung up the phone.

  "Bullshit."

  Katie was livid now. She immediately dialed Mel.

  "Hey, chickipoo, how--"

  "What's going on, Mel? Why are you messing with me with this ghost stuff?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "The business card, the taxi driver, all of this ghost crap. I can't believe I'm telling you this, but I called her up and she knew who I was, even knew that I bought the Blackstone house. What else did you tell her?"

  "Calm the hell down. I told her nothing. I figured it would help you out, put your mind at ease. I have business cards from all kinds of suppliers, from draperies, interior decorators, construction workers, electricians, you name it. You know that. I also have the business card of the psychic that does house cleansings. Weird. I know. But you're experiencing some weird shit there--"

  "Are you saying that you never told her about me?"

  "The only people who know who bought that house are the lawyers, Christopher Watkin, you and me. Well, of course Big John knows now, but that's it. You need to chill. Everyone has nightmares. Everyone sees shadows. You're in a spooky house, no two ways about it--"

  "Spooky is right. It really is haunting me, Mel."

  "Just because you have a weird dream doesn't mean there's ghosts."

  "You had a dream when you were at my place. Tell me about that..."

  "I can
barely remember it now."

  "Were you in bare feet? Did you walk outside? Did you walk over to the willow tree?"

  "That's pretty much how I remember it," said Mel.

  "Well, problem is, you didn't tell me your dream. And that's the exact dream that I've been having over and over again at the house. Each time I have that dream it gets worse and worse--"

  "Oh my God. Are you serious? Are you pulling my leg now?"

  "I'm dead serious. The dream becomes more vivid, clearer details each time. It feels more real each time. And the thing that haunts me the most is the screams. I'm outside and I can't do anything to save the people from dying."

  "You are freaking me out," Mel said.

  "I'm freaking out. How can we both have the exact same nightmare? Right down to the little tiny details?"

  "I have no idea," Mel said. "I swear to you, Katie, I didn't tell Psychic Diana anything. Sure, what she does might be strange, but I think she's every bit as legit as the Pope. I know you're not a believer in religion, but having her in might make you feel better. Besides, it would be a tax write-off for you..."

  Katie laughed. "I guess this is tax write-off day for me."

  The following morning Katie felt better. Although Mel was worried about her--she'd never known her to be this agitated and snappy--Katie felt much more alive. She didn't believe in ghosts or goblins, but she did know this: she felt better being away from the house. It was a downer.

  Katie jumped in the shower and took her time. It was hot, it was fresh and the soaps and shampoos in the marble stall were orange-citrus scented. She loved it.

  There was high-end coffee in her room and she made herself two cups. Wearing a comfortable, cozy robe, she sat down to observe the lake and make a call.

  "Diana. Hi, this is Katie. I spoke with you last night and I wanted to apologize to you. I've had a crazy couple of days, and while that's not an excuse, I realize I was rude to you. I wouldn't call the Pope and mock his beliefs and I shouldn't mock yours--"

  "Stop apologizing. I had a client from hell, so to speak, and I was a bit edgy yesterday too. How can I be of help?"