by Raven Snow
Rowen had been thinking about that one for a while. “I think he was trapped in the chest. I think, when Rebecca let him out, he was insane with rage. I think he lashed out at the first person he saw.”
“And why is it you think this?”
That was another bit of information that was going to be hard to swallow. “I believe Rebecca’s spirit has been following me since I went to the crime scene.”
“Of course you do.”
“I know how this sounds.” This was precisely why Rowen hated sharing this sort of thing with anyone. “I don’t care if you think I’m crazy. I just need to know more about your great grandfather. I have to help my family.”
Eric looked her up and down. He was tense but, gradually, his posture relaxed. “If I knew anything else about him, I would tell you.” He sounded like he meant that. “I don’t know how it would help, but…I know you’re worried about your family.”
“Would you be willing to help me try and contact him?” It was a lot to ask, Rowen knew. The question alone sent Eric reeling.
“What?” he asked. “Like a séance?”
Rowen nodded. “Like a séance.”
Eric shook his head in disbelief. “This has been one hell of a trip. Yeah. Sure. Why not?” He tried to play it off like he was doing her a favor, but Rowen was sure she detected a hint of curiosity there.
The rest of the meal was pretty awkward. Eric agreed to come inside when he drove her home. They would do the séance in the attic. Best to go ahead and get it out of the way.
Their plans didn’t make it quite that far. They were paying for the food when Rowen’s cell phone rang. It was Aunt Nadine. Even before she answered, Rowen’s heart was pounding. Aunt Nadine wasn’t one to call without a reason. She steeled herself for what she might hear and answered. “Hello?”
“Rowen!” Aunt Nadine’s voice was wavering, like she was crying while she spoke. “They arrested my girls. They arrested Willow and Peony!”
“What?” asked Rowen. “What did they arrest them for?” Unfortunately, Aunt Nadine just started sobbing. “Aunt Nadine? Never mind. I’m on my way.” She hung up.
Eric had been watching this all with a frown. “What’s up?”
“Two of my cousins were arrested. I need to get home.” She hurried for the car, Eric right behind her.
“Why your cousins?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Why not your aunt or your grandmother?”
“I don’t know!” Rowen was ready to wrestle the keys from him if he didn’t stop asking pointless questions. Of course, it was only once they were on the road that she had time to process Eric’s question. “My grandmother?”
Eric was driving faster than he should have been. Still, he managed a nervous glance over at her when she spoke. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just that she knew him, and the body was in her house. If not her, then who?”
Rowen wanted to say something. She wanted to yell at him and tell him he was wrong. How could she, though? If she were in his position, she would have done the same thing. She propped her face in one hand and leaned against the door, miserable.
“Sorry,” said Eric. “I shouldn’t have said that. Not right now.”
His timing was terrible, but Rowen still didn’t fault him for it. This was all such a mess. As she sat there feeling sorry for herself and her family, something occurred to her. “Hey. That picture we found at the museum…Did you do anything about that?”
Eric shot her another nervous look. “I…I, uh, mentioned it to the police.”
Now Rowen was getting angry at him. “And you didn’t think to mention that to me?” He had come into their home and drank their lemonade. She’d even driven him to find that piece of evidence, and he couldn’t have given her a head’s up?
Eric fumbled with an explanation, but Rowen wasn’t listening. Her house had come into view, and there were lights flashing outside. An ambulance? Rowen leapt from the car as it was still rolling to a stop.
Margo, Terry, and Rose were all out on the front lawn. The ambulance was pulling away as Rowen finally closed the distance between them. “What’s going on?” she demanded, breathless.
Margo turned to her cousin with tears in her eyes. “Grammy collapsed. She just stopped breathing.”
“It was right after Nadine called you,” said Rose, her eyes fixed on the ambulance as it shrank from view. “She and mom are with her now.”
Rowen’s hand flew to her mouth. “Is she…?” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.
“They got her breathing again,” Terry assured her. “She’ll be fine.” He couldn’t have known that though, and Rowen wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t sure any of them were going to be fine.
“Do you need me to drive you to the hospital?” asked Eric. At some point, he had run over to join the four of them. He was standing there rather awkwardly now, not sure what to do with himself.
Rowen considered the offer. “No,” she said after a moment. “First things first. That séance just became more important than ever.”
Chapter Seven
It would be difficult to convince most people to perform a séance in the attic right after a family member had been taken off to the hospital. But the members of Rowen Greensmith’s family were not like most people. After living in the city for so long, she had forgotten how refreshing that could be.
The theory that a ghost had killed Rebecca Abernathy was received well by everyone except Terry. Margo’s husband made it no secret that he was unimpressed with Rowen’s skills of deduction, and he was annoyed when his wife readily agreed with the suggestion of a séance. When they all headed upstairs, Terry stayed down below. “Don’t let them rope you into this nonsense!” he shouted after Eric as they climbed the stairs.
“You’re already roped into this,” Rowen told Eric. She grabbed his wrist as she continued upward—just in case he was getting any funny ideas about leaving. His presence was important. It was his great grandfather they needed to contact.
“You’re sure you don’t want to go check on your grandmother?” asked Eric, clearly uncomfortable with everything that was going on.
“Grammy has family with her already,” Rowen said and left it at that.
“You really think it was a ghost that attacked her?” asked Rose. She sounded more interested than skeptical of the notion. She had always had a real passion for anything of this nature. Being the only adopted Greensmith, magic didn’t technically run in her blood. Instead, she tended to surround herself with books and research on the matter. “Who do you think trapped him in the chest?”
“We can ask,” said Rowen. Honestly, she wasn’t too concerned with that. Clearly, this guy had been bad news. If it got her family in trouble, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know the truth. What mattered most was that they had a murderous ghost they needed to get rid of.
In the attic, they pushed the furniture aside. Rose found some candles and arranged them. Margo drew a big circle with her finger and they all sat down within it. With the candles lit, they readied themselves.
Eric shifted. “What am I supposed to do?” he whispered.
Rowen opened one eye and glanced over to him. “Clear your mind,” she whispered back. “Be receptive. Get rid of any doubt.”
“I’m not sure that last one is gonna happen.”
“Well, just try the first two, then. Close your eyes.” Rowen couldn’t help but smile when he did as he was told. As annoying as she found him, she had to give credit where credit was due. Not many people would have gone along with this. Eric had his faults, but overall he seemed like a nice guy. He was pretty easy on the eyes, too.
Rowen shook her head and closed her eyes again. Ogling Eric was the opposite of clearing her mind. She made a point to focus on the dream in which she had seen through Rebecca’s eyes. She thought only of that and the pictures she had looked at with Eric. She saw Lionel in her mind’s eye as she spoke. “Lionel Richardson, come to us. We want to
speak with you.”
Nothing in the room changed. Rowen waited a few moments, but still, she felt no one come.
“I feel something,” said Margo, sounding uncertain.
Rowen searched for what she was talking about. “I think that’s just Rebecca,” she said after a moment. “She followed me home from the crime scene.”
“Oh,” said Margo. “Never mind then, I guess.”
“Sorry they killed you,” said Rose to the open air.
Eric made an exasperated sound. Without opening her eyes, Rowen reached out and slapped him lightly on the knee. “Everyone join hands,” she instructed. “That might help.” With Margo’s hand in one of her hands and Eric’s in the other, she tried addressing the spirit again. “I have your great grandson Eric here. He traveled a long way just for you. He wants to uncover the truth. He wants to find out what happened. Why not come and sit with us for a while? Tell us, yourself?”
Again, Rowen went silent. Again, there was nothing. She was starting to get frustrated. She knew it had just been here. It had attacked Grammy, hadn’t it? Clearly it was angry about something. Most spirits would want the chance to explain themselves, to make their will known.
“It was worth a shot,” Margo offered after they had all been sitting there for a considerable amount of time.
“We could try talking to Rebecca,” Rose suggested. “Maybe she has more to say.”
Rowen considered her words. “That’s not a bad idea. All right. Everyone focus on Rebecca.” As soon as she tried, however, she realized something alarming.
Margo said it first: “She’s not here anymore.”
“Well, call her. Maybe she’ll come back,” said Rose.
Something wasn’t right. “I haven’t felt her leave once since I left the crime scene,” Rowen said, feeling a sudden chill down her spine. The circle of candles around them flickered. Everyone’s eyes were open now. They all felt it. There was something new in the room with them. It was a presence much different from Rebecca’s. “I think maybe Lionel is here,” Rowen said.
No sooner had she spoken than the flickering candles started to topple. They all fell like flaming dominos. The last one hit the hem of Rose’s jacket, setting it aflame. Rose shrieked. Margo sprang into action, patting out the flames.
“What do you want?” Rowen demanded. “Tell us what you want.” The windows in the attic shook and rattled. “I’m not scared of you,” said Rowen, raising her voice to the thing. That was a bluff though. She might not be afraid for her own safety, but she was very much afraid of this thing. It had gone after her family and proved itself capable of killing in the past. There was a lot there to be afraid of.
Justice. The word wasn’t said aloud, but Rowen heard it clearly all the same. A split second later, the nearest window shattered. Her cousins shrieked and scrambled away. Rowen just sat there in the glass, hoping for more to go on than just a word. The presence was gone, though. So much for asking questions.
“You’re bleeding,” said Eric.
The words roused Rowen from her daze. She looked down at her arm. The glass had nicked her. It looked worse than it was. She ignored it. “Did anyone else hear that?”
Margo nodded. “Justice.”
“Even I heard it,” said Rose, practically bouncing with excitement. “And I never hear ghosts.”
Rowen looked back at Eric. If Rose had heard it, there was a good chance he had as well.
But if he had heard it, he wasn’t ready to admit it. “Come on,” he said. He grabbed her hand and hoisted her to her feet. “Where’s your bathroom?”
“Nearest one is just downstairs and on the right,” said Rose.
Eric headed in that direction, pulling Rowen along behind him. She was puzzled at first, but decided that he probably just wanted to speak with her privately. When he got her to the bathroom, though, he immediately started doctoring her arm.
She couldn’t help but chuckle at his concern. “What are you doing?” she asked as he dabbed at the blood.
“This is insane,” Eric said, shaking his head. “This is absolutely insane.”
It was only then that Rowen realized just how shaken Eric seemed. Her amusement faded. “Hey. Deep breath.”
Eric took a deep breath.
“I wasn’t kidding when I told you my family was a little strange.” That sounded a little too much like an, ‘I told you so.’ Rowen tried again. “I know it’s a lot to take in. Terry did the same thing. Everyone from outside the family does. It’s why Greensmith girls aren’t great with relationships. We’re sort of a roller coaster ride.”
Eric shook his head. “I like roller coasters. This isn’t a roller coaster. This is more like an Earth shaking revelation.”
“In a good way or a bad way?” she asked.
Eric opened his mouth to respond but paused. “I don’t know yet,” he admitted, finally. “It’s just…It raises a lot of questions. Like that picture.”
Rowen assumed he was talking about the picture from the museum. “What about the picture?”
“It’s bizarre I even found it, right? There must have been thousands of pictures there, and I found it almost immediately.” Eric let go of her arm long enough to search the medicine cabinet for a bandage. “I just felt drawn to it. What if someone was guiding me to it? What if it was my great grandfather?”
Eric suddenly realized that he was rifling through someone else’s medicine cabinet and stopped with a muttered apology. Rowen went through it for him, getting her own bandage and some antiseptic. “It could have been him,” she agreed.
“And then there’s the whole thing with my family insisting I come here personally. That struck me as odd. What if the ghost was influencing them, too?” Eric sat down on the edge of the tub. His expression was one of a man who had just had his whole world view shattered.
“One thing at a time.” Rowen finished doctoring her wound and went over to join him. “It’s a little soon to be overwhelmed by ghost conspiracy theories,” she said, sitting down at his side.
“Should we…Should we tell the police about this?”
“I wouldn’t. They’ll think I’ve just been conning you.”
“I guess.” Eric sounded uncertain, like he wasn’t entirely sure that she wasn’t conning him. “What do we do now?”
“Well, I need to go see my grandmother.” Suddenly, Rowen remembered her cousins. She groaned. “Actually, I should probably go see about Willow and Peony first.”
“Those are your cousins that were arrested, right?” Eric stood. “Come on. I’ll give you a ride.”
“That’s all right,” Rowen assured him.
Eric just shook his head. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d really rather come along. I don’t much want to be alone right now, and you’re the only person in town that I sort of know.”
That got a mirthless laugh out of Rowen. “You don’t even trust me or my family. You’re here because you think we murdered your great grandfather.”
“The irony of the situation hasn’t been lost on me, thanks.” Eric gave a deep, exasperated sigh. “This is, by far, one of the weirdest experiences of my entire life.”
Chapter Eight
Terry stopped pouting long enough to drive Margo and Rose to the hospital. Rowen had been there when they called ahead. Grammy was conscious, but they were keeping her overnight for observation. There were some police loitering around, but the doctors were keeping them at bay. She was an old woman, they said, and she needed her rest. In truth, Aunt Lydia said that Grammy was just mad as a hornet that the police had taken her granddaughters. She was in no mood to talk to them right now without getting everyone into more trouble.
It seemed the police had been watching the Greensmiths. They had used Willow and Peony going to a party to their advantage and looked for any excuse to pick them up. Knowing the sort those two hung around, there was probably no shortage of excuses.
Rowan was in a pretty foul mood of her own by the time she pulled up to
the police station. She walked inside with a purpose, standing tall and keeping a blank expression. The officers at the front desk sat up a little straighter when she came in. Apparently, they had been expecting at least one of the Greensmith girls at some point. They didn’t look like they expected Eric, though. His coming in right behind her definitely raised a few eyebrows.
“I’m here for my cousins, Dave,” she told the middle-aged man behind the counter. There weren’t many people in the town she didn’t know. The police station was no exception.
Dave leaned back in his chair and took a long, laborious breath like he was about to lecture her. “It’s not that simple, ma’am. I’m sure you know that.”
“Don’t ma’am me like I haven’t known you since I was a kid and you were pulling this nonsense with my aunts.” Rowen pointed past him, in the direction of the holding cells. “If they’re charged with something, tell me. Otherwise, I’d appreciate it if you would stop harassing my family every time something bad happens in this town.” Granted, the bad thing that had happened this time was directly related to them. Rowen decided not to mention that part. “As I’m sure you already know, my grandmother is in the hospital. I don’t want her to have to deal with knowing her granddaughters are spending the night here.”
Dave motioned to another officer, who headed into the back to get the girls. Then Dave talked Rowan through why he had held them in the first place. It was exactly as she had suspected—they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn’t humor him with any sort of apologies on their behalf. “You don’t have to tell me all this. They’re adults. I’m just their ride.”
Willow and Peony emerged from the back with puffy eyes and smeared makeup. They hurried over to Rowen when they saw her. She turned and walked out. She wasn’t in the mood for hugs.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” chanted Willow.
“Thank you for bailing us out,” Peony said, more solemnly.
“I didn’t bail you out, you morons,” Rowen said, rolling her eyes. “Word of advice: if you’re not charged with anything, you don’t have to stay.”
