Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series)

by Jenna Roads

  “Because I knew what you were going to try to do and I don’t want you to,” I replied.

  “I’m going to call her tomorrow and tell her we’re seeing each other exclusively and that I need her to take her money back,” he said.

  “Okay, I guess if you need to do it. Aunt Carol asked about you, and said if we were still together tonight, then that was a good sign. Then she said she’d let me get back to my date. I think she really wants us together because she mentioned that she thought we would hit it off just great,” I said.

  “I do hope she approves. I know how happy I am about it,” Logan said.

  “And I know how happy I am about it. Thanks for a great time,” I said.

  “My pleasure,” he responded.

  “I can’t get over how far you can see at night with all the city lights and even during the daytime. Where I am from, you can only see two or three houses away or one quarter mile at a time. This is so strange to me,” I said.

  “Since I’ve practically lived here my whole life, it doesn’t seem so strange to me. I guess it would be strange if I went to where you are from. I think I would feel claustrophobic,” Logan said.

  “I think you would too, after having these wide-open, beautiful painted skies,” I replied.

  He nodded.

  “Logan, thanks for my ring and for wanting to be with me exclusively. I am definitely a one man woman. You really surprised me. This is so special to me and I will treasure this day forever.”

  “Isabella, I am glad you love it. You mean the world to me. I, too, will treasure this day,” he said.

  I scooted across the seat a little closer, entwined my arm with his, and put my head on his shoulder, as I listened to “You Are Not Alone” by Michael Jackson on the radio. I hugged his shoulder while I looked at the million stars in the now dark sky with twinkling lights of the city as far as you could see. What an incredible light show on such a magical night. I squeezed Logan’s arm a little tighter and he squeezed back and smiled down at me. He stole my heart.

  After being there on his shoulder while I listened to song after song on the radio and becoming intoxicated by his cologne, Logan nudged me.

  “Isabella, I need to come back to reality for a moment. While I know the house blessing and demon removal has been done, I will be staying at your place tonight just to be positive.”

  “I would like that very, very much,” I said.

  Logan said, “I’m going to swing by my place to grab a few things for the night.”

  “Sure,” I replied.

  In no time at all, we pulled into Logan’s place and were inside. He went to his bedroom and grabbed some clothes and then to the bathroom for toiletries. As I waited, I noticed the paintings on his walls were all southwestern, but incredible.

  I said, “Wow, you must’ve spent a fortune on art for this place.”

  “No, actually all of those are gifts from previous clients. There are many amazing artists here,” he said.

  “These are beautiful,” I said.

  “I really like them. The fact that they were free is just a huge bonus,” Logan said.

  He had a really neat kiva fireplace in the corner of the living room. It made it look warm and inviting. I just really loved the warmth and earthy colors everywhere I went.

  New Mexico just felt like the place I was supposed to be, but I could certainly do without my ghost.

  “Ready,” Logan said.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  When we arrived at my aunt’s house, Logan said, “Allow me,” and opened the door.

  I walked in and everything seemed calm. I unloaded my things, as did Logan.

  “Do you want to watch something on TV?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I replied.

  Logan scrolled the channels to find something to watch. After much channel surfing, he asked, “What about this?”

  I looked up to see While You Were Sleeping and I said, “Wow, you must be in love if you are willing to sacrifice your manhood for the ultimate chick flick. I love it, but you probably won’t.”

  “If you love it, then I am sure I could at least like it,” Logan replied and selected the movie.

  “Okay, but I must tell you that I cried the first time I saw it,” I said.

  “As long as I know what you are crying about, that’s fine,” he replied.

  “Can I get you something to drink or a snack?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Sure, how about a Coke and a smile,” he said as he followed me into the kitchen.

  “You got it, Toyota,” I said playfully.

  He grabbed a bag of chips and we sat on the couch to watch the movie.

  We got to the part where Jack came to the station to see Lucy and put the engagement ring in the change holder and the tears started flowing.

  I was silently crying when I realized there was another crying sound going on. Logan put his arm around me to comfort me when I looked up at him shaking my head with stark terror in my eyes. Then it hit him that my lips were closed and I was not making the sound. It was coming from upstairs.

  I was just paralyzed with fear, but Logan got up, grabbed his gun out of his overnight bag and headed for the stairs. I jumped up, not wanting to be left behind and followed him. As we approached the stairs we noticed tissues wadded up and dropped every few steps in a trail going up the stairs. It was if someone walked up the stairs crying and threw the tissues down after they had been used.

  After seeing this, Logan called out, “Hello, anyone here?” No answer was given. He said again, “Hello, is anyone here?”

  As we reached the top of the stairs, we went into the master bedroom, searched the bathroom, closets and checked the veranda door, but found nothing. The fear built up inside me like a boiler about to explode. We went into the second bedroom and found nothing again. We started to go down to the third bedroom and heard water running coming from the bathroom beside the third bedroom. My heart rate increased to a million beats a minute. I was holding Logan’s shirt at his waist and I felt his muscles jerk tensely under my hand. I was shaking all over as we continued. We looked inside and saw nobody.

  We walked in and the water was barely going. The shower door was steamed and there was a print of a hand like someone had placed their hand against it. Written underneath was the word ‘back’. You could see through the shower door that nobody was in it, but that didn’t make my heart slow down any. I gripped Logan’s shirt a little tighter as my breath quickened and fear encompassed my very soul.

  Logan looked in the walk-in closet of the bath and found nothing. Suspense built while we approached the last bedroom. We found absolutely nothing.

  Logan said, “So, much for the house blessing! Something is definitely still here! It makes no sense. What does it or they want?”

  “I wish I knew. Please, Logan, can we just get out of here?” I asked.

  “Well, I guess we can go to my place. Let me turn off the water in that other bathroom and you get some clothes,” Logan replied.

  When we re-entered the bathroom, Logan reached for the water spicket, but found it was turned off already. We both looked at each other with stark horror in our eyes. There was nobody in here except us.

  “Grab something to wear. I’ll be right here with you.”

  I gave a jerky nod.

  “What do you want, ghost?” Logan yelled.

  I grabbed my clothes and we ran downstairs. I collected my things there. Logan got his and we locked up and left in his truck.

  As soon as we went through the gate, Logan pulled to the side of the entrance. I must’ve still looked terrorized, because he reached over and put his arms around me and hugged me to him.

  He whispered in my ear, “I will never let anything happen to you, Isabella. You don’t have to worry. I won’t leave you. We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise. You’re safe now and I love you more than you know.” He pulled my face up to his and kissed my lips firmly. He pulled away and said, “Let’s
get you to my place.”

  After a few minutes, we pulled into the drive of his house. We got our things and went inside.

  Logan asked if I wanted some coffee and I told him I did. He told me he did not have my special creamer yet but he had half-and-half, if that was okay. I told him it was fine. He told me he would get me some creamer tomorrow.

  I placed my things in the guest bedroom and went to the bathroom. When I came out, Logan had my coffee in his hand. He placed it on the coffee table in front of his couch, so I took a seat there and so did he.

  I breathed in the delicious aroma of fresh brewed coffee and drank in the warmth of the first sip.

  Aah, I felt a small part of my troubles melt away and realized I was safe in Logan’s house with my hero and that was such a comforting feeling.

  Logan placed his arm around me and pulled me to his embrace. He lifted my face up once again, but this time it was very soft and sensual, as he took my lips in his and caressed them with his own until we had to come up for air.

  Logan said, “I love you, Isabella.”

  “I love you, Logan,” I replied back.

  “I just can’t figure out what this ghost thing wants or why it is there. It does not make sense that I spent days there and didn’t hear or see anything,” he said.

  “Well, same here. I didn’t hear or see anything for a couple of days either and then at first, what I saw and heard didn’t strike me as being anything other than a new house and its flaws being worked out. It looks like I must’ve made it mad after I had been there a couple of days,” I pondered.

  “Well, we are going back to see Cheveyo tomorrow. For now, I think you need to rest, Isabella. You’ve been traumatized,” Logan said.

  “Maybe you’re right. I am tired,” I replied.

  I got up and told him goodnight and he kissed my forehead. I stumbled to the guest room and put on my night shirt and climbed into bed. I left the door open so I could hear Logan.

  After what seemed an eternity, I sat up because I couldn’t sleep after being so frightened earlier.

  I got up and went into the living area and Logan was not in there. I went to his room where he also had the door open and called out to him.

  He jumped up out of the bed at the sound of my voice and practically ran into me coming to the doorway.

  I said, “It’s okay. I just can’t sleep. I was hoping we could lie down together.”

  “Sure, come on in here,” Logan said. He sat down on the bed and I climbed in on the other side.

  I got in the fetal position and Logan wrapped his arm around my waist.

  “Thanks for letting me come in here. I guess I’m still a little shook up,” I said.

  “This is my pleasure, I assure you. I started to suggest it earlier myself, but I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea at a time like this,” Logan said.

  “I just feel so safe when I am with you. Fear and anxiousness just melt away. I love you,” I said.

  “I love you, too,” he replied.

  I must’ve gone to sleep, but I didn’t know about Logan, because when I woke up he was on his side with his hand under his head looking down at me, smiling.

  “Wow, what time is it? Did you sleep any?” I asked.

  “It is 8:30 a.m., and yes, I just woke up a few minutes ago,” Logan replied as he kissed my forehead. “Good morning, Isabella.”

  “Good morning, Logan,” I said back to him.

  “I’ll go make some coffee,” he said.

  “I’d like to take a shower if that’s okay?” I asked.

  “Sure, make yourself at home. After all, mi casa is su casa, pun intended,” Logan said.

  “I guess it really is,” I replied.

  I made the bed and got my things for my shower. We’d left in such a hurry last night, I didn’t know what all I had brought. I found enough of everything. The water felt great as it cascaded warmth over my skin. I took a quick shower, got dressed and slapped on some makeup. I ended up with a short outfit that I’d grabbed in my terror last night. It was a red tank top and black jean shorts.

  I hadn’t grabbed any jewelry. I had a fetish for jewelry. I did have my beautiful ring that Logan had given me and that is really all I needed though. I cleaned up my bath mess. I carried my dirty clothes with me into the kitchen. I asked for a bag and he gave me one.

  I saw that Logan had breakfast on the table of French toast with sausage. I said, “Wow, I can’t believe you cooked breakfast.”

  “I didn’t want you getting weak on me. Have a seat,” he said.

  I sat down and drank some fresh brewed coffee. It was very good. I took a bite of the French toast and it was amazing. I ate my breakfast as we talked about the day and our plans to go see Cheveyo.

  Logan said, “We are getting to the bottom of this ghost thing. It doesn’t make sense. It looks like the ghost or whatever it was did not want to harm us. It had every opportunity to hurt us, but didn’t.”

  “I can’t understand why me. What have I done or what have I not done? It may not want to harm us, but it could make me harm myself from fear,” I said.

  “You finish eating and I’ll shower and dress and we will go see my friend and find out what his next suggestion is.”

  I finished my food and cleaned up the kitchen.

  I looked at my phone and there was a message from my aunt to call her when I got some free time. My brother had sent a text saying he missed me. That was it. Wow, I hadn’t even been on Facebook lately. I really didn’t even miss it. It must be love!

  Logan came out and grabbed his keys and phone. Looking at his phone, he said, “Wow, nine messages. I will just be a few minutes; I need to check on these. It may be important.”

  “No problem. I just checked mine and I had one from my aunt and she said to call when I had free time. I sure dread that call. I guess I’m going to have to tell her about what’s been happening here,” I said.

  “Why don’t you wait a little longer on that one,” he suggested.

  “I think you are right. I’ll just text my brother and tell him everything is great.”

  We both took care of our messages. Logan had to make a few calls and set up a few things and then he called Cheveyo. When he got off the phone, he told me that Cheveyo said he was about four miles away from us in town and had just finished his business. He said he could come to Logan’s house if we wanted him to and Logan told him that would be great. I wandered around the house and asked about the artist and paintings on the walls.

  I told him how much I loved the paintings and how beautiful they were. The furniture was not that of a young person. He had Aspen carved furniture in his house.

  “This is so naturally awesome,” I told him.

  “I guess you could say that it’s a kick back, although that was never my intent. I referred many new homeowners who wanted the natural feel to their home to this company that does that type of Aspen. And after they received many high dollar orders as a result of my referrals, they offered to furnish my little house. They insisted, so I let them. It was a sweet deal,” Logan said.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Cheveyo pulled into the driveway and Logan went out to greet him. They came inside and we sat around the table in the kitchen. Logan told him about the problem that still existed and how upset I was about our guest ghost.

  “I thought I had taken care of it, but it looks like it must be someone you know who had been there and died. When that is the case, the spirit won’t leave until their unfinished business is taken care of, no matter what you do,” Cheveyo explained.

  “That is what is so weird, because it can’t be anyone I know. Since this house was built and my aunt bought it, I’m the first to live in it. My aunt has only seen it, not lived in it. Actually, Logan has been taking care of it and has been there the longest,” I said.

  “Logan, I guess you need to find out if someone died working on this project,” our Spirit Warrior said.

  “I can do that, but I’m pretty sur
e that didn’t happen, or I would have heard about it,” Logan said. “I’ll call the contractors.” He went into the living room to make the call. When he came back, he said, “Nobody was hurt or died during construction.”

  “The thing that does not make sense to me is that Logan said that he didn’t hear or see anything while he was at the house for more than a week. Also, I was at the house for two days before I noticed anything. The third day is when things started slowly happening and I certainly didn’t think it was spirit related in any way. I thought it was just a new house and would have some kinks,” I said.

  “Maybe we better just decipher what has been going on and when. Logan, do you have a tablet of paper and three pens?” Cheveyo asked.

  “Sure do,” Logan replied, and went to the desk for them. He handed them to Cheveyo.

  “I am going to give each of you a piece of paper and I want you to write down everything that has happened and the day, approximate time and date. When you are done, I will consolidate the two papers and try to get a better picture of everything that has happened,” Cheveyo [LEB3] instructed.

  He gave us the papers and pens and we started writing down everything we remembered separately. After about 20 minutes had passed, Logan gave him his paper and I followed his lead. Cheveyo had been making a layout on his papers. He took our pages and began to consolidate them into his layout.

  Logan asked if we wanted a drink and we both let him bring us a bottle of water.

  After another fifteen minutes had gone by, Cheveyo finished his layout of our guest situation.

  Cheveyo said, “I don’t understand why the spirit did not show up until after all the work Logan did on the house and after you had been there for two days.”

  “Me either. I don’t even understand these ghosts or spirits, period. I always thought that was someone’s imagination. Before coming here, I had always laughed at stories of ghost. Now that I think about it, the people always did look desperate and freakish. I just thought that was part of the act to get people to believe them. Now I feel really bad.”