Shadows of the Past: A Supernatural Suspense Mystery (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 1)

by Nellie H. Steele

  Michael’s face did little to hide his shock. “Wait, what? The stalker? This guy is the stalker. And you met with him… alone… in a motel room. Josie, are you crazy?”

  “No, I’m not crazy,” Josie said, her voice becoming heated again. “He said he could help, and I needed help.”

  “What about Dr. Reed? Is this guy the one who sent that other quack?” Michael asked.

  “Millie is not a quack,” Josie defended her.

  “Millie? Do you know her?” Michael asked.

  “Yes, no, I don’t know, it’s all so confusing,” Josie said, burying her head in her hands.

  “He’s really been helping you, I see,” Michael said, rolling his eyes.

  Josie, overwhelmed and upset by the conversation unfolding, squeezed her lips together trying to determine a way to explain it that made sense. But she wasn’t sure she even could make sense of it.

  “So, has he cured you, Josie? Has he told you why you’re having those strange dreams? What they all mean?” Michael continued.

  “No,” Josie said, fighting back tears.

  “Yeah, I didn’t expect so. Let me guess, he told you he had all the answers. He could help you, he could make you whole again. And let me keep going with my guess here, next he failed to give you any actual information. Am I right so far?” Josie didn’t respond. “Then he told you he could send a doctor to help you. A doctor who probably put stuff in your head that he was this nice guy whom you could trust. This guy is crazy, Josie, crazy. I don’t know what his end game is, but this ends now.” Michael started up the steps.

  “Where are you going?” Josie asked, surprised that he was walking out of an argument. Michael never left an argument until it was settled, usually in his own favor.

  “To get rid of the thing that started this mess.”

  “What?” Josie followed him, Damien trailing behind them both.

  “That damn music box,” he said, bursting into her room and making a beeline to it. “This thing started all this trouble, and it needs to be out of this house now.”

  “What? No!” Josie shouted. “Give that to me!” She reached for the music box, now in Michael’s hands.

  He pulled it away from her. “No, Josie. This thing started all this madness.”

  “Give it back, Michael. I was having nightmares long before that.”

  “But you weren’t meeting with stalkers in motels before it came. You act weird every time you’re around this thing,” he said, moving it overhead out of her reach and trying to skirt around her to the door.

  “GIVE IT TO ME!” Josie shouted, jumping for it. She grabbed hold of it and the two struggled for a moment before Josie lost her grip. She tumbled backwards, flailing to regain her balance but losing that battle. She smacked her head hard on the footboard of her bed before collapsing to the floor. The impact was enough to knock her unconscious for a few moments.

  “JOSIE!” Damien called, rushing to her side. Michael dropped the music box, also racing to her side. It clattered to the floor, landing on its side and open. Tinkling music filled the air as the two gathered around Josie’s slack form.

  Michael held her hand, checking her wrist for a pulse. “Her pulse is okay,” he choked out. “Josie, Josie, wake up,” he said, patting her hand.

  “Breathing looks okay, I don’t see any blood where she hit her head,” Damien said. “Jos, hey, Jos, wake up.” He patted her cheek.

  “Should we call an ambulance?”

  Before Damien could answer, Josie began to moan a little, knitting her eyebrows and moving her head. “Wait, here we go, maybe she’s coming to,” Damien responded. “Josie, Josie, that’s it, it’s time to wake up now.”

  Josie’s eyes fluttered open, staring straight at the ceiling. “Josie? Josie, are you okay?” Damien asked.

  Josie did not respond, she continued to stare at the ceiling. She blinked a few times then clutched her head with both hands, covering her eyes. She moaned as though in pain.

  Michael and Damien exchanged glances. “I think we had better get her to the ER,” Michael said, swallowing hard. Damien nodded in agreement.

  Josie began to sit up. “Whoa, whoa, Josie, easy, you took a nasty spill and hit your head. You should lie still,” Damien said.

  “I feel sick,” she whimpered. “My head, it hurts so much.” Waves of nausea passed over Josie and the pain in her head screamed across her temples. She was deathly pale. Her breathing became ragged and her vision was closing to a pinpoint. Blood rushed through her ears and her hands began to tremble.

  “Yeah, you hit your head pretty hard, just take it easy, we’re going to take you to the ER,” Damien said, looking to Michael, unsure of what to do. Damien was never good in a crisis.

  “Here, I’ll carry her to the car,” Michael said, putting his arm under her knees and around her shoulders. As he did, Josie shrieked in pain then went slack, losing consciousness again. “She passed out. I’m going to lay her back down. Perhaps we should call an ambulance.”

  “Maybe,” Damien said, not sure what to do. He was distraught at seeing Josie this way, his hands shaking.

  Michael stood, opening his phone to make the emergency call. “Wait, she’s coming around again,” Damien exclaimed.

  Josie’s eyes shot open, and she bolted upright. She glanced around the room as though she had never seen it before and was getting her bearings. Her breathing appeared normal, and she was no longer complaining of nausea or pain. The color seemed to have returned to her face. “Josie, oh, Josie, thank God,” Damien said upon seeing her looking better.

  Josie looked at him oddly, then at Michael. After a moment, she found her voice. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Help me up.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Michael began.

  “Yeah, I agree, you just hit your head pretty hard and passed out and then woke up and passed out again after saying you were really sick and in lots of pain.”

  “Well, I’m fine now. My head is a little sore,” she said, rubbing the spot she hit. “But I’m fine.” She began pushing herself up to stand.

  “Whoa, okay, wait. Here let me help you,” Michael said, grabbing her hand to help steady her. “You okay? Woozy at all?” he asked once she was upright.

  “No, I am fine.”

  “Perhaps you should sit down for a minute,” Damien motioned to the bed.

  “Sit down? No, no, I need to go. There’s something I need to do. It can’t wait.”

  “What?” Michael asked. “No, you need to go to the emergency room and check that you’re okay. Now, come on, I’ll drive.”

  “No, I’m fine. I need to go.” Josie began to leave the room.

  “Josie, are you kidding?” Michael reached for her.

  She pulled away. “Don’t.”

  “Josie,” Damien began, “I don’t…”

  Josie cut him off. “You two have done enough damage so far,” she said, picking up the music box and its contents and setting it on a nearby dresser. “I’m fine. I need to go. I’ll be back later.”

  She disappeared from the room, leaving behind two stunned men. “Ah, I’m not sure she should be alone nor should she be driving. She may have a concussion,” Michael managed to get out.

  “Yeah, me either. She was acting… weird.”

  “Should we follow her?”

  “That was what led to this disaster. We could wait and track her phone?”

  “Good point. As much as I don’t like this at all, perhaps we shouldn’t give her any more reasons to go berserk. Start tracking that phone.”

  Chapter 15

  Josie pulled into a spot at the Mountain View Inn next to Gray’s car. Sliding out from behind the wheel, she approached the door and knocked. The door opened, Gray stood inside. Josie pushed inside past him.

  “Josie! I’m glad you came back; I was worried sick about you. I’m sorry about before. That’s the reason I was cautious about how much I told you. I didn’t want to tell you a lot. I knew how you’d react, tha
t you wouldn’t understand…”

  “You can cut the apology, Gray, it’s me.”

  Gray’s forehead wrinkled, and he knit his eyebrows together, trying to understand. “Celine?”

  “More or less.”

  “You remember?”

  “I remember everything, yes. There’s no danger of breaking poor Josie anymore by telling her the awful truth about her past, or rather, mine.”

  “Celine, thank God.” He raced over to her, intending to pull her into his arms.

  She pushed him away. “No, Gray.”

  “Celine?” he questioned. “Listen, you’re right. There’s no time for that now. We have to go home.”

  “No. Like I said, I remember… everything. I remember the end, I remember the pain and misery, I remember the bargain I made, I remember all of it, Gray.”

  “Celine, I realize you were unhappy toward the end, but we need to put all of that aside now. The family needs you; you must come home with me. I thought we would be okay after you left. But this is different. It’s something we’ve never dealt with before. We need you.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t. I only came to say goodbye. You need to leave, go home, I can’t help you. I have my memories but that’s all. I’m not like I was. I can’t go back to that. I have one chance, one. I’m not giving it up. I have a normal life here, I don’t have long until I’m twenty-five and then I’m home free, and I’m planning on staying normal.”

  “Celine, you HAVE to come home.”

  “No, Gray, I don’t. You know I was never meant to live that life. I have my chance at a normal life. I’m taking it.”

  “Celine…”

  “It’s Josie. I’m Josie now,” she said, turning to leave the room.

  “Celine, wait,” he called after her.

  “Goodbye, Gray,” she said, as she closed the door and went to her car.

  The door closed behind her. That was Celine, all right, he thought. Gone was the self-doubting, wide-eyed innocence of Josie, replaced by all the confidence that he remembered of Celine. So, she remembered, but she still wasn’t willing to help. He had won the battle but failed to win the war. He needed to convince her. He sat on the edge of the bed trying to think.

  There was another knock at the door. He rushed to it, hoping it was Celine, hoping she had changed her mind. Opening the door, he found Millie. “Was that Josie I just saw leaving?”

  “Yes and no,” he answered, wandering back over to his perch on the edge of the bed.

  Millie closed the door behind her. “What do you mean by that?”

  “That, my dear Millie, was Celine.” He watched the shocked look pass over Millie’s face. “Yes, she’s back, and she remembers everything. And she’s not too happy about it either. She couldn’t care less about helping us; she just wants her normal life as Josie. So, yes, she’s Celine, but she’d rather stick with Josie.”

  “She remembered? How? When?”

  “All questions I don’t have answers to. She wasn’t in a very sharing mood. Like I said, she came by to tell me to leave her alone.”

  “The important thing to focus on is that she remembers.”

  “Yeah and a fine bit of good that’ll do us for her to remember and do nothing about it. For God’s sake, we’re nearly out of time, all of us!”

  “Yes, I realize that, but let her assimilate all of this information then go back to her and convince her. You don’t have to hold back anymore, she knows the truth now, and you know her better than anyone, use that, convince her.”

  Gray pondered for a moment. “There may be a way. But you’re right; it’s best to let it sit for now. When she’s being stubborn, there is no convincing her of anything. Looks like we wait… again.”

  “Okay, her phone is being tracked.”

  “And?”

  “Give it a minute, she’s barely out of the driveway.” Damien said, watching the dot moving on the map. “Turning left onto Highland Road.” He waited a few more moments. “Okay, looks like she’s headed back to the motel.”

  “The stalker motel?”

  “Yeah, the stalker motel. Yep, she’s stopped there.”

  “Unbelievable. What is going on with that?”

  “No idea, but I agree, it’s really strange for her.”

  “Should we go over there? Confront them? Find out what’s going on?”

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea? I mean, the last time we confronted Josie we almost killed her.”

  “We didn’t almost kill her. I’m not happy about what happened, but we didn’t almost kill her.”

  “Well I thought we had.”

  “And you’re not worried about her being almost killed now? Or disappearing? Running around after a head injury with some crazy stalker.”

  “Yes, I’m worried about her, but I think perhaps now that we have some new facts we can go about it differently, maybe get the information without causing her to, you know, be knocked unconscious in a fight,” Damien said, shrugging.

  “I guess.”

  “Oh, movement, look, she’s on the move again.”

  “Where to now, I wonder? And is he with her?”

  They watched the dot moving along the map for a few minutes. “Umm,” Damien said, pausing. “Looks like she’s coming home?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Yep, she’s turning on Highland. Almost here.”

  The two stared at the screen for a moment longer before Michael suggested, “Ah, yeah, maybe we should sit down, pretend we haven’t been spying on her.”

  “Yeah, good idea.” They raced to sit down, Michael plopping onto the couch and grabbing the newspaper, quickly opening it, Damien threw himself into an arm chair, grabbing his iPad.

  Within minutes, Josie came through the door. She eyed the scene in front of her, stopping herself just short of rolling her eyes. “Oh, hey, Jos,” Damien said, “still feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, you sure you two are feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, why do you ask?” Damien asked.

  “Well, Michael is reading the paper upside-down and you are working with a blank screen on your iPad.”

  Michael scowled. “Okay, you caught us. We are upset and worried about you. We weren’t concentrating on what we were doing. I still think we should have taken you to the emergency room.”

  Josie looked at them both. How frustrated she had been with them earlier. The moment had passed, she was ready to move on. This was the life she was choosing. She could understand how upset they were. She walked over, joining Michael on the couch. She sighed. “I’m fine, I don’t need to go to the ER. And there is no reason to worry. I am fine. And to put your minds further at ease, I said goodbye to Gray. I told him to leave me alone.”

  “Gray? The stalker guy?” Michael asked.

  “Yeah, the stalker guy. Time to get back to normal.”

  “That sounds great, Josie,” Damien said. “We can go to Dr. Reed’s with you tonight. We want to help you get back to normal.”

  “I’m not going, I’m canceling the appointment.”

  “Are you sure that’s wise?” Michael asked. “Sorry, I don’t mean to push you, I’m just asking.”

  “I think it is. I can always go back if things don’t continue to improve but I think I’ve turned the corner.”

  “Okay, well, that sounds like a plan then,” Michael said.

  “All right, well, I’m going to cancel that appointment and then what do you say we order something to eat? Pizza?”

  “Awesome, yes, please!” Damien said.

  “Great.” Josie rose and disappeared upstairs.

  “Wow, talk about a complete turnaround, huh?” Damien exclaimed.

  “Yeah, I’m almost afraid to believe it. Seems too good to be true. You mind if I hang around another week or so just to be sure she’s okay?”

  “Nope, I don’t mind at all. When you’re around, she’s so busy being mad at you she never gets mad at me.” He grinned.

  “Glad that’s w
orking out for you,” Michael joked back. “Hey, while I’m here, keep that phone tracker on. Just in case.”

  “Sure thing,” Damien said.

  Chapter 16

  When Josie awoke early the next morning, she remembered experiencing the dream again, running through the cave, hands bloody. Now that she remembered everything about her past, the dream had made much more sense and felt much less overwhelming. Still, she had assumed once she remembered everything the dream would no longer trouble her. Why she had the dream again perplexed her. Was it a remnant of stress from remembering her past?

  She laid in bed for a few moments before she got up to jog. She considered her day; there were a few work items to take care of this morning. She hoped everyone else in the household was going to the office today, leaving her time to embrace her newfound memories and begin to act like Josie again. She had acted very “un-Josie-like” yesterday; she had to be careful to continue to behave like Josie. She wanted things to return to normal. She didn’t have long before this could become permanent; she had to make it through.

  After changing clothes, she checked her phone. A text message from Gray was waiting: Celine… need to see you… urgent

  She rolled her eyes and sighed. This was not what she needed. Not only did she not want to continue involving herself with Gray, but she also did not want her roommates finding out that she was still involved with him. She texted back: Told you yesterday I can’t help you

  The response was almost immediate: Celine, please… I heard what you said, but I need your help… just for a few minutes.

  Perhaps the best way to deal with Gray was to meet with him and reinforce to him she could not help him. If she ignored him, he’d likely show up when she least expected him, probably at the worst possible moment. She texted back: Meet me at the end of the road… leaving for my jog now

  Before she received a response, she left. She spent the first half of her jog setting her mind to deal with Gray. She had to remain steadfast in her long-term goal, which was to remain far away from the drama of Buckley life. As she approached the end of the road, she spotted Gray’s familiar form, leaning against his car. She steeled her nerves for the encounter and pushed ahead, jogging up to him.