The Haunting Season

by Michelle Muto

  “Allison is telling the truth. She’s not doing this. Does anyone else see Riley?” Jess repeated.

  “No,” everyone replied. Everyone except Allison.

  “Is it the demons?” Dr. Brandt asked. “Allison? Are the demons back? Are you sure one isn’t inside you? Maybe Riley is a demon now. Tell him to put the knives down. You can do this,” Dr. Brandt said. “Order the demon to do as you ask.”

  Inside the mirror, Riley growled. The sound was neither human nor animal and fear danced up Jess’s spine.

  “I can’t!” Allison wailed. Her eyes turned to Jess and then to Bryan. Dr. Brandt paced some more, his expression both frightened and yet…exhilarated. Jess gave Gage a quick glance.

  His expression was a definite told you he was losing it.

  Corporation, government experiment, the house taking over Dr. Brandt or whatever else it might be, Jess couldn’t allow Riley to hurt Bryan. Her heart raced wildly. Every part of her wanted to turn and run, not take a step closer to the mirror. “Leave. Him. Alone, Riley!”

  Riley grinned. His teeth were dark and thin.

  “Now!” Jess demanded.

  Almost instantly, Riley stood directly on the other side of the glass, his dark eyes glittering. She could see Bryan lying on the bed behind Riley’s image. “What will you give me, Jessss?”

  “What do you want?” She tried to sound defiant, but took a step back.

  Riley grinned. “Why a queen, of course. For now, I’m just a dark prince. But if I had a queen, I could be king. You’ll do. So pretty. Is it a deal? A kingdom isn’t complete without a queen. Help me become king, Jesssss. We’ll rule Siler House and all those within.”

  “Stay away from me!” Jess managed to say.

  “Don’t you want a family, Jess?” Riley leaned against the mirror and it pitted where his fingers touched the glass. “Don’t you want a family that will always be there for you? We’ll never die, Jess. No one here will ever leave you. Not like your father or grandmother. We’ll all stay here. Together. Forever.”

  “Look at the fingerprints!” Dr. Brandt exclaimed. “My God, he’s really there!” He turned to Jess and Allison. “You’ve done it, you’ve actually done it!”

  Jess wasn’t sure who made her flesh crawl more—Riley or Dr. Brandt. He didn’t seem scared. He seemed overly excited at the prospect of finally getting Riley to show himself.

  “Jess?” Gage stepped closer to her. “Talk to me, Jess.”

  “Why don’t you have lover boy bring me out?” Riley coaxed. “Oh, yes! I know.” Riley bent forward and his eyes glittered beneath stringy hair. “I didn’t see it since…” He tapered off, the smile fading from his lips. “But I can hear through the walls. It sounded like fun.” His mouth crooked into a menacing grin. “Are you having fun, Jess? Are you having fun with Gage?”

  Jess hated the way he said her name with the snake-like hiss at the end. She stepped back, coming to rest against Gage.

  “A little translation here?” Gage asked warily. “You girls are the only ones with Riley Vision. What’s he saying?”

  “He watches through the mirrors,” Allison told him. “I don’t know why he’s trapped in the mirrors when the others aren’t.”

  “So he’s traveling through the mirrors?” Gage asked.

  Allison nodded. “He’s been watching us sleep.” Her eyes cut to Jess’s. “It’s why I’ve been up at night.”

  Jess recalled when she had thought someone was watching her and shivered.

  “Bryan,” Dr. Brandt said. “Concentrate. Concentrate on sending Riley away.”

  Bryan closed his eyes and he mouthed the words go away over and over. Riley paced in out of view a few times.

  Allison got to her feet and walked over to Bryan. She leaned close to him and whispered something in his ear. For a moment, Jess thought Bryan would pull away from Allison’s touch. She might not have caused the knives to hover or made Riley appear in the mirror, but Bryan was a bit freaked out. He listened, and nodded.

  “Go away!” Bryan said, anger in his voice. Nothing happened. He repeated his words, louder this time. “I said, go away!”

  “Oh, hell. Run!” Gage yelled. He grabbed Jess by the arm as he bolted for the door.

  The knives rose upward, the tips of their blades facing outward. Seemingly no longer captive, Bryan was on his feet and running.

  Jess screamed as a large knife flew past them and vanished as it hit the wall. She hurried into the hallway after the others.

  “What just happened?” she nearly shrieked.

  “They’re gone,” Bryan said, voice shaking. “I don’t know how, but I think they’re gone.”

  Dr. Brandt walked back into the room. Jess and the others didn’t move. From inside it, he laughed. “You did it, Bryan! You did it!”

  Gage reentered the room with Jess right behind him. Allison came as far as the doorway, but no farther.

  Every knife was gone—vanished into thin air. Bryan stood beside Gage, his face an ashen gray.

  Jess looked into the mirror. Riley was still there. “I’ll leave. For now,” he said. “But not because of him.” He glanced Bryan’s way. “Because you’re not ready. Make no mistake, my Jess. You will be ready. All of you. Soon.” He turned and walked off the edge of the mirror and out of view.

  “He’s gone,” Jess said.

  “The question is whether we can get him back,” Dr. Brandt said.

  “What?” Gage looked at him, incredulous. “Get him back?”

  “He’s not gone!” Allison cried. “Just because Jess or I don’t see him doesn’t mean he’s not there.”

  Everyone stared into the mirror.

  “Is he still there?” Bryan asked.

  Jess studied the glass. “I think he’s gone. But, Allison’s right. He probably moved to a different one.”

  “Then we’ll smash all the mirrors,” Gage said.

  “That won’t do any good,” Allison replied. “Don’t you guys get it? He’s in the house! He’s in the walls and ceilings. He’s in the attic, the basement. Even the floors!”

  “We’ll have to do something about that,” Dr. Brandt said. “But first, we need to draw him out.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The next afternoon, Jess sat on her bed and fiddled with her cell phone. She should call home. She hadn’t made a single phone call since coming here. If she didn’t call soon, her mother would not only be calling her, but Dr. Brandt, too. Yet, she didn’t want to talk to her mother. Oddly, she didn’t want to talk to anyone outside of Siler House. She’d have to lie about the experiment—tell her mother half-truths. If her mother knew what was going on, Jess had no doubt she’d be on the next plane to Savannah. It didn’t matter that Jess was eighteen.

  “Are you going to call her, or what?” Allison asked as she sat at the dresser, painting her short fingernails a bright shade of pink.

  “Yeah, I suppose.”

  “It’s the house,” Allison said. “Have you noticed?”

  Jess frowned. “Noticed what?”

  “Exactly,” Allison said softly. She shook her head and sighed. “Why am I not surprised? Look at what’s happened so far. We’ve experienced some weird things in the basement. We’ve seen things in the mirrors. You’ve seen ghosts. Bryan has been making small objects disappear, and then there’s the thing with the knives.”

  “I’ve noticed. Sure, there’s been a lot of weird stuff going on,” Jess said.

  “Weird? Siler House is a lot more than weird. Don’t you see? No one is running for the doors. Dr. Brandt hasn’t brought in his peers.”

  Come to think of it, Allison was right. Jess started to mention that the reason she hadn’t called home had been because her mother wouldn’t believe her and frankly, Jess hadn’t felt like explaining everything to her. After all, Jess’s imagination was one of the reasons they’d sent her to a psychiatrist to begin with. What would her mother think if she told her any of what had happened? She’d show up, chew Dr. Brandt out, a
nd cause a scene in general. That was the logical part about why she hadn’t called home. The rest? She was at a complete loss to explain why they hadn’t all packed their bags last night.

  She couldn’t explain why she wanted to stay—why it was still important to help Gracie and Emma instead of just getting out of here. Of course, there was Gage. He was part of the reason she wasn’t ready to give up and go home, too.

  You could still call him from home, a little voice in her head told her. Jess ignored it, knowing it wouldn’t be the same between them once they left Siler House.

  Allison was right even though it defied logic. Somehow, the house was keeping them here. Not in the physical sense, but through some other means.

  Allison tested one fingernail. “No one in their right mind would stay here after the incident with the knives. No one normal, that is.”

  Jess laughed. “When did any of us turn normal? Maybe that’s why we’re all drawn to stay—because Siler House magnifies what we are, what we could be and somehow, deep inside, we all want that.” She regretted her choice of words the minute she’d let them slip out. Of course Allison didn’t want the demons to come back. Allison was here because she had nowhere else to go. For the next several weeks, she was still a minor. She’d sort of given up hope that anyone would come for her, and even if the house let her leave, Dr. Brandt wouldn’t.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I believe you, but I wonder if somehow, it’s only us that’s keeping us here. It’d make more sense.”

  “If it’s just us, why isn’t Mrs. Hirsch gone?” Allison replied without so much as a blink in response to Jess’s words. “Why hasn’t Dr. Brandt called in more of his scientist friends?”

  Jess shrugged. “Because Mrs. Hirsch is just plain scary at times? And I’ve always thought Dr. Brandt was at least as crazy as we are.”

  “No. It’s because we all live here day and night. The maids and the renovation crew come and go. We’re all starting to be drawn more to each other, too,” Allison said.

  Was Allison hinting about Jess’s meeting with Gage last night? This morning over breakfast, they had been staring at each other a lot. If Gage felt anything like Jess did, there was going to be a lot of staring until they were able to find time alone again. Jess squirmed at the thought. It was hard to not think of how Gage’s touch felt last night, despite the whole incident with Bryan. It’s not like she hadn’t had boyfriends before, so why did Gage make her so nervous?

  Admit it. Allison is right. The house is getting a hold on all of us.

  But, the house wasn’t getting her all dizzy over some hot guy with six-pack abs and a kissable mouth. Jess shook her head. “We’ve all got something in common. We’ve all been spending a lot of time together.”

  Allison raised her eyebrows and grinned. “Is that so?”

  So, Allison did suspect something had happened with her and Gage last night. Fine. “That has nothing to do with the house or ghosts.”

  “I mean all of us, Jess. Not just this thing between you and Gage. Although I’m sure it’s helping with that, too. It’s like our connection with one another is getting stronger. Our connection with this house is getting stronger. It’s like that saying, we’re moths to a flame.”

  She’d known exactly what Allison was going to say.

  …moths to a flame…

  “Are we all crazy? Has Siler House made us crazy?”

  “For staying, yes. I can’t explain why we’re still here either, Jess. I’m scared, and yet, believe it or not, I know I can’t leave. It’s like I’m waiting for something—the right moment. I don’t know.”

  Jess fumbled with the phone again. “It can’t have that kind of power over us.”

  Can it?

  “So, why aren’t you calling your mom?” Allison asked.

  Jess sighed. “Honestly? I just don’t want to deal with all the questions. You know parents. They read into things that aren’t there. You’re right. I do need to call her. Maybe when I’m done practicing my channeling. I think I’ll ask Dr. Brandt for the Ouija board. Then, I’m going upstairs to the music room.”

  “You’ll need two people,” Allison said. “One on either side, with the board resting on your knees.”

  “Speaking from experience?”

  Allison nodded solemnly.

  “I’ve only used a Ouija board once. I was by myself,” Jess relented. “Nothing happened. I guess I was doing it wrong.”

  “I used one a few times. It started as a dare with a few friends,” Allison confided. “At first, nothing happened, either. I guess we forgot to close the portal and that’s when demons came. After that, I just sat and asked the board questions on my own. The demons answered.” Allison got up and went to the bathroom, closing the door. “I’m not helping you,” she shouted from the other side.

  Jess stared at her phone again, then called her mother. The phone rang a few times before Paul answered.

  “Hey, Paul!” Jess said as cheerily as possible.

  “Hey, Ghost Hunter! How’s it going?”

  “Everything’s fine, except we haven’t seen any ghosts,” Jess lied.

  “Oh, bummer. I know you were looking forward to it. Everything else okay?”

  “It’s great,” Jess said. “Allison and I are getting along really well, and the house is incredible. I was just checking in. Is everything okay there?”

  “Everyone’s doing just fine,” Paul replied. “Your Mom and sister are at the mall. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. Try her cell.”

  “No, that’s okay,” Jess said. “I don’t have a lot of time. We’re all…” She fumbled for an excuse. “We’re supposed to meet downstairs in a few minutes. Tell her I’ll call her later in the week or I’ll send her an email or something.”

  “I’ll tell her. Lily misses you. We all do. Just take care and enjoy yourself, okay?”

  Jess smiled. Lily. Was it wrong that she really only missed her baby sister? “Yeah, I will. And I miss you guys, too.”

  Something shifted under the bed. “Call you guys later,” Jess said and ended the call. The shuffling sound returned. Her runaway imagination warned her the knives might be there, swishing back and forth, waiting for her to step off the bed.

  It’s not knives.

  Don’t look…

  Unable to stop herself, Jess peered over the edge of the bed and finding nothing there, she stepped carefully onto the floor.

  Something stirred under the bed again and she took a few safe steps away from the bedskirt.

  “Jess!” a child’s voice whispered. Her heart in her throat, Jess bent down and carefully lifted the bedskirt, nearly tumbling backward at the sight. Gracie looked out from under the bed, then slid the Ouija board forward.

  She wasn’t afraid of the girls, but that didn’t make her any less nervous. Jess still rationalized that good ghosts could be trapped in the same location as evil ones. If Grams appeared inside Siler House right now, Jess would still be jumpy. No, what scared her was that the girls had shown up under the bed.

  “Geez, Gracie! You scared the crap out of me!”

  Gracie’s bottom lip took on a pout. “We didn’t mean to scare you. But she scares us. We’re sorry Allison won’t help you. She doesn’t want to help us, either.”

  Jess took in a steadying breath. “It’s okay. I’m fine now. Hey, we were just talking—”

  “We said we’d help,” Gracie interrupted, still staring unblinkingly at Jess. She pushed the board forward another inch. “Don’t be mad we took it.”

  Jess’s hands shook slightly as she took the Ouija board and planchette Gracie offered her. She’d explain about taking the board to Dr. Brandt later. Maybe he wouldn’t notice if it was gone for a few hours. “Thanks,” Jess managed to say.

  Gracie smiled, then scooted backward, disappearing behind the bedskirt. From underneath the mattress came the sound of Gracie and Emma’s echoing laughter.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Gage watched as Dr. Brandt sat an
other item on the coffee table in front of Bryan. This time, he’d brought up one of those creepy-ass dolls from the basement.

  “Try it again,” Dr. Brandt urged, focusing the video camera on Bryan.

  Bryan rubbed his temples. Clearly, the aspirin he’d taken for his headache hadn’t kicked in.

  “You’ve got your own work to do, Gage. You’re not concentrating,” Brandt said.

  Gage stared at the dead crow in the shoebox. “Sorry. Maybe it’s been dead too long.”

  The truth was, Gage had no intention of trying to resurrect the damn thing. Not the birds, the squirrel or anything else Dr. Brandt brought him. Hell, he had no idea if he even could anymore.

  But the last thing he was going to do was find out in front of Dr. Brandt. He agreed with Allison—the dude was acting strangely. His obsession with Riley, the ghosts and demons, not to mention his ever-increasing fondness for Siler House. It was all too weird for comfort.

  Besides, look what it had gotten Bryan—Brandt was pushing him way too hard. Of course, had Bryan not made those knives disappear yesterday, they’d all be in some serious shit.

  “Focus, Gage.” Dr. Brandt went back to filming Bryan.

  Bryan’s eyebrows furrowed, and he pursed his lips as he stared at the doll.

  “Dude, you look constipated,” Gage said.

  “Enough!” Dr. Brandt snapped. “Bryan, keep trying. It’s very important you learn to do this. It’s important to all of us.”

  All of us? Gage frowned. As far as he was concerned, Brandt was turning into a world-class douchebag. Forcing Bryan to practice until he damn near passed out or got a nosebleed wasn’t cool. What was up with Brandt, anyway? At first, he couldn’t take enough notes. Now, he took very few. Wouldn’t EPAC be pissed off when they found out?

  A drop of blood fell from Bryan’s nose onto the table, quickly followed by a couple more. He swiped at his nose, while still giving the session his all. But his all wasn’t working. Whatever juice Bryan had yesterday, he didn’t have it today.

  “Seriously?” Gage said.

  “Seriously, Gage,” Dr. Brandt shouted. He set the video camera down on the table. “You need to go practice outside somewhere. Now!”