by Rose Pressey
“I’m all right. I just had to stop at a coffee shop,” I said.
Tammy looked over at the cup on the ground. Luckily, I’d finished the coffee and the cup was empty.
Chapter 6
“Did you see the shadow again?” I asked.
Tammy frowned. “No, I didn’t see the shadow. It’s just that I was worried about you. Is the shadow here? Should I be worried?”
“I appreciate that you’re concerned, I really do, but you can’t worry about me. You have enough trouble without adding me to the list.” I picked up the cup. “No shadows here to fret over either.”
I tried to sound relaxed, as if I was confident the shadow was nowhere around.
“That’s what best friends are for,” Tammy said.
“And I’m fine.” I straightened my shirt.
“It doesn’t sound like you’re fine. You’re acting as if you were running from something.” Tammy quirked an eyebrow.
There was no way would I tell her that I saw the shadow again.
“No, I was just in a hurry to get here,” I said with a smile.
She probably could see right through me.
“After what happened at the coffee shop I wouldn’t be surprised if you are on edge,” she said.
We walked into the library.
“Well, I am on edge, I can’t deny that,” I said, placing my tote bag under the counter.
I was hoping that I would be able to work hard today and get my mind off all the problems. I would welcome the escape of work. I still hadn’t had a chance to explain to Tammy about Joanna, the woman who had come to my house last night. I supposed now was as good a time as any. And I’d told Tammy not to worry about me. She wouldn’t be happy when I explained that Joanna had followed me home.
As we checked in the books that were in the return bin I explained to Tammy what had happened the night before. This was the downtime before the patrons came in, when we could catch up on things that had happened overnight. Since I saw Tammy every single day there wasn’t much that we didn’t share with each other. Maybe she didn’t tell me when she was scared of the ghosts that I had hanging around, and I didn’t tell her about the ones that she couldn’t see. But other than that, we told each other everything. At least I thought we did.
“So she just showed up? Wow, that is so creepy,” Tammy said.
“Well, I feel sorry for her because this man is obviously crazy. I hope that Brannon can figure out who it is.”
“You say he’s been leaving her notes in the books?” Tammy asked.
“Yes, slipped right inside between the pages.”
“And what books are those?” she asked. “How do you know the books have anything to do with the note?”
“Now that I think about it, I am sure the books have something to do with the notes. The books are about someone who’s been stalking a woman.”
“That might explain a lot,” Tammy said.
“Yes, now all we have to do is figure out why he’s doing it, and who he is. Did I tell you that Joanna lives in my old apartment?”
Tammy stopped with a book midair. “Are you serious?”
“Completely serious. You don’t think it has anything to do with what happened, do you? It’s just a coincidence?”
She shrugged. “You never know. There are some strange things going on in Devil’s Moon. I’d definitely keep my eye out for this man.”
“Oh, don’t you worry. I’m going to keep a watch out for him.”
I grabbed a stack of books and headed toward the back of the library where I had to return them to the shelves. I kept my mind occupied on making sure they were in the right spaces and then headed back toward the front of the library. Just as I rounded the corner, I saw the man. Actually, it was just the back of him, but I knew it was him. It was the mystery man. The one who had been harassing and stalking Joanna. Why was he in the library? That sent chills down my spine.
I took off after him because I intended to stop him and find out if he was the murderer. Did I really want to confront a murderer? Probably not, but I definitely couldn’t let him get away. I had to at least follow him and find out where he was going so that Brannon could catch up with him. I pulled out my cell phone so that I could call Brannon as I ran after the man. Tammy was nowhere in sight. The whole library was empty at the moment. I wondered if she had seen the man and run away? Probably not. One thing I knew for sure—I didn’t want her anywhere near him. He was crazy. I wanted to keep him out of the library. He made it to the door and headed outside, so I ran for the door too.
When I got outside onto the steps, the man was standing at the graveyard. He had turned around and was looking right at me, as if he knew that I had been coming after him. Did he want to lure me out of the library so that he could grab me? This was creepy. For a moment we just stared at each other. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
He didn’t speak. He just stared at me.
“The police are on their way,” I said. “I know you had something to do with that man who was murdered at the coffee shop. Plus, you need to leave Joanna alone.”
Even though I was yelling at him now he just stared at me without saying a word. After a few more moments he turned and headed over to a black car. He got behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb in a hurry.
I texted Brannon to let him know that the man had been here. I hadn’t been able to get his license plate number. Maybe I needed eyeglasses. When I got back inside Tammy was behind the reference desk.
She quirked an eyebrow. “What happened? How did you get out there?”
“That man was out there. Actually, he was in the library.” My words were rushed.
“What man?” she asked.
“The one I think is the murderer. The one following Joanna.”
“Oh, my gosh.” Tammy clutched her chest. “Why is he here? See, I knew you needed to be careful. He’s coming here for you.”
“I didn’t say he’s coming after me. I don’t want to hear that.” I held my hands up. “Brannon said he was on his way.”
Just then the door opened and I spun around. Luckily I was able to hold in my scream. A library patron came through the door. The woman looked at me strangely, but then headed over to the stacks.
“I have to get some stuff from my office,” I said. “Let me know when Brannon gets here, or if you need anything just call me on my phone. I’ll run right back up here.”
She nodded. “Just be careful.”
“What could happen in my office?” I asked. “Nothing could happen back there, right?”
“I don’t think so.” Her words came out as more of a question than an answer.
Tammy didn’t sound all that confident. I stepped into my office. I had recently tried to make it more my own. It still had A huge picture of the former librarian decorated the wall on the left. Apparently I wasn’t allowed to remove that. It was if her eyes followed my every move. I thought her portrait should have a space out there in the hallway where everyone could enjoy it. However, Mrs. Agnew insisted that it should be in the office. I didn’t argue with her anymore.
When I sat down behind my desk, I noticed the book placed right there in front of me where I wouldn’t miss it. That was odd. Why was it here? I picked it up and a piece of paper fell from between the pages and landed onto my desk. I grabbed it and read the words.
I’m watching you too.
A shiver went down my spine. The man had left this in my office. He had been back here. I felt so creeped out. Why was he following me? I picked up the book and the note and hurried back to the front of the library. I was just starting to show Tammy the note when Brannon walked through the door.
“Are you all okay? What’s going on?”
I explained to him that the man had been in the library. That was when I handed him the book and the note.
“Oh, wow,” Tammy said.
Brannon pulled out his phone and made a call.
&n
bsp; “What do you think he’s going to do?” Tammy whispered.
“I don’t know, but I’m hoping maybe they’ve spotted this man’s car. Maybe they pulled him over and I hope he’s been arrested.”
Tammy crossed her fingers. “I hope so too.”
Brannon had just clicked off the call when all of a sudden the shadow appeared from his right. It swooped out and narrowly missed us as it drifted around the corner. Brannon dashed after it. I took off running too, but as soon as I got around the corner, Brannon had stopped and the shadow was gone.
“Where did it go?” I asked.
Brannon shook his head. “I don’t know. It disappeared.”
“Do you think it’s gone for good?”
“Unfortunately probably not,” he said. “It wants something. We just have to figure out what.”
I sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I figured.”
Brannon went into full investigation mode—whenever he saw a ghost or spirit he became the paranormal investigator. He pulled out his phone from his pocket. He liked to use the recorder on it and was probably wanting to catch any sounds from the ghost. Though I wasn’t sure this spirit was willing to talk. With the way it zoomed around so quickly I doubted it ever stayed in one spot long enough to answer questions.
The spirit was nowhere in sight, so it was doubtful that it would return to interact with Brannon—unless of course it wanted to attack, then it might come back. What questions would we even ask the thing? I wanted to tell it something. I wanted to tell it to leave us alone and not to come back. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I wondered if it was because the ghost had returned.
“Who are you and why are you here?” Brennan asked.
He wouldn’t get an answer until he played back the recording, so he continued.
“You have to leave this building and stop following Ripley,” Brannon said.
We paused and looked around to see if the spirit was actually going to show up again. There was no sign of it, although I felt the presence near us. It was just a pressure in the air, but I knew it was near. Again the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Brannon stopped the recording and played back. Sure enough, there was a voice that answered, although I couldn’t make out what it said. Ever the paranormal enthusiast, this got Brannon excited.
“We caught something,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can’t understand what it said.”
“It’s more like a moan, if you ask me. It definitely didn’t sound friendly.”
Brannon looked around. “I agree, it didn’t sound friendly.”
“I figured that all along,” I said.
After a few more questions and no answers, Brannon put away the phone. “Well, I guess that’s that.”
“For now, but I never know when it’s going to return,” I said. “I wish there was a way I could get rid of it.”
“You can’t do anything to get rid of it now. We’ll keep working at it, but right now I have to get back to work. My boss is on me to figure out who stole the trash can from his front yard.”
“Me too,” I said, releasing a deep breath. “Seriously? His trash can?”
Brannon nodded. “I’ll have someone come by and patrol the library. We’ll be on the lookout for the guy.”
“Thank you, Brannon.”
He gave me a quick kiss on the lips. “Don’t wait to call me if you see him, even if you see the spirit come back.”
I agreed to call him if I saw the man, but I wouldn’t call him if I saw the spirit. There was no way he could chase down the ghost so I figured it was pointless. I wouldn’t mind admitting I was nervous about the prospect of receiving another note from that stranger.
I watched as Brannon walked out the door.
Tammy touched my arm. “Are you all right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m tough, remember?”
“You are tough, I’ll give you that. What did Brannon say?”
“He’s going to look for the guy. If anyone can find him he will,” I said.
“What about the spirit?”
“We didn’t really get any information when we tried to contact through the recorder, just some weird noises, but no real talk.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Tammy said.
I knew Tammy didn’t really like talking about this stuff. Since I knew it made her uncomfortable I wanted to change the subject. I talked to her about some of the happenings that were coming up at the library, just lighthearted chitchat or anything I could think of to change the subject. It made me feel a little bit better too. Our idle talk seemed to work for a while. We forgot about the spirit, although it popped into my mind occasionally.
Annie sent a message. I’ve tried to chase away that spirit.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
I told it to go away when I saw it.
I smiled to myself. “It didn’t listen, did it?”
She shook her head.
“That’s all right, Annie, it’s the thought that counts. Actually, I don’t want you near that thing. You should stay away from it. The spirit could be harmful.”
This is my library, and I don’t want anything bad like that invading it.
“I understand. We’ll get rid of it, okay?”
Just remember I’m here to help.
“I know you are, and I’m glad to have you as a friend.”
You’re my friend too.
The cat meowed. I reached down and got a treat from under the counter. She immediately hopped to attention to retrieve it. I certainly didn’t want the bad spirit bothering Jane Austen.
Chapter 7
As I worked the rest of the day I worried that the shadow or the mystery man would return. Brannon had taken the note that I’d received and was trying to match the fingerprints. Now it was the end of day and time for the tour. The shadow hadn’t returned all day and neither had the man. Tammy and I locked up and headed outside.
“I think I’ll walk with you,” she said.
I looked at her suspiciously. “Why? Because you’re scared? Or because you’re fearful for me and don’t want me to walk alone?”
Tammy shrugged. “Both of those.”
“That’s understandable,” I said. “We’ll walk together. I can take you to the tavern and then I’ll head over to the cemetery.”
“Are you sure you want to do that tour tonight?” she asked as we walked along.
“Well, I have to do it. I mean, it’s what I do, and I don’t know that this man is truly after me.”
Tammy quirked an eyebrow.
“What I mean is maybe he just wants to scare me so that I won’t investigate anymore,” I said.
“And how does he know that you’re going to investigate?”
“He probably heard it around town that I’m a little bit snoopy.”
“You’re not snoopy. You just have natural detective abilities,” Tammy said.
“I’ll go with that answer. It sounds good.” I pointed.
Tammy laughed.
Soon we had arrived at the tavern.
“Well, this is your stop,” I said.
“If you’re sure I can’t convince you not to do the tour tonight…,” Tammy said.
I reached out and hugged her. “I’ll be fine, and please call me if you need anything, okay?”
“I will… I’ll probably text you before the tour is even over.” She waved.
People walked up and down the sidewalk in front of the tavern and I scanned their faces to see if one of them could be the mystery man.
“Are you looking for him?” Tammy asked.
“I guess I can’t help it.”
“Well, I can’t either. I keep watching people in the tavern to see if he comes back,” she said.
“If he does make sure to text me right away.”
“You know I will,” she said.
Before entering the tavern she gave me another worried look.
“I’ll be fine, I promise. Don’t worry.”
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br /> “That’s easier said than done.”
“I know, but it’s true.” I gave her a wink.
A group of people walked up behind me. I glanced around at the faces, checking again. They made eye contact, but kept on walking. None of them were the mystery man.
“Okay, I’m really going this time. No more checking faces for the mystery man,” I said.
Tammy shook her head. I’d never seen her so worried about me before. I waved and then turned the corner, heading down the alleyway. On the outside, I tried to seem in control, but I was really scared. Yes, I had seen the shadow right down this alleyway earlier in the day, so I wouldn’t pretend I wasn’t a little bit fearful. I tried to tell myself that it was just a coincidence that the shadow had appeared right before the man had been murdered. Because honestly, what connection could there possibly be between the ghost and the murder? The mystery man on the other hand was a totally different story.
Just like other nights, the owl was waiting for me on top of the tree. Mrs. Clatterbuck was nowhere in sight, so I waited by the gate patiently for the tour-goers to arrive. The voices of the group carried down the alleyway. As soon as they emerged at the end, I saw the shadow. It was right behind them, and they had no idea that it was there.
I didn’t know what to do. Should I scream out for them to run? Or remain calm so that they wouldn’t freak out? After all, I didn’t want them getting hurt because I’d so scared them. Maybe the thing would just disappear. Would it be able to hurt them? I wouldn’t tell them unless I had to, but I was torn on what to do.
Chapter 8
Thank goodness the spirit went away without harming anyone, and even better, they had no idea that the thing had been back there. I wasn’t going to tell them either. What would be the point? As long as it didn’t return and try to harm someone. If it came back I would point it out, but it had moved so quickly that there was no time to even tell them.
“Welcome to Devil’s Moon Haunted Tour,” I said with a forced smile. I was still trying to calm down. “Tonight I will guide you through the haunted streets and buildings of town.”
