“Old Salem Road is hardly the middle of nowhere. It’s the outskirts of town, Bernice.” Kirstie, the tall, thin woman beside Bernice added. Kirstie was the local hairdresser, she had fiery red hair that reminded Mallory of Anne of Green Gables. She probably could have pulled off the position of Sarah Sanderson with a blonde wig but instead she was dressed as the eyebrow-less, buck-toothed elder sister, Winifred.
“Anyway, have you heard about it?” Bernice asked, sticking out her massive cleavage as she tapped one of the servers on the arm. “I’d like another one of those poisoned candy apples.”
“No, I’m afraid I haven’t.” Mallory responded, waiting to hear what sort of big fish Bernice had caught now.
“Ms. Vianu,” One of the guests shouted to Mallory from across the room just as a lightning bolt struck a tree right outside, rattling the windows and giving the night sky an eerie appearance.
Holy Hell! Mallory jumped higher than a cat put in the bath.
“Why, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a witch fly by on her broomstick on a night like this,” Bonita joked.
Mallory chuckled and nodded, feeling the wall near their table for the dimmer switch. No need to blind the guests later when the power was restored—like she’d done to poor Willa.
“Ms. Vianu!” Mallory heard her name shouted again.
“Sorry, ladies. Duty calls.”
She walked across the room to a table of actual witches. “I’m not sure if you remember meeting me earlier, I’m Gilda.”
“Hello, Gilda. Of course. How can I help you?”
“I’m just wondering if the local bakery carries the Hansel & Gretel Bait?” She held up her half-eaten chocolate peppermint cupcake sprinkled with pop rocks and laughed. “So clever. I’d love to take a baker’s dozen home to my coven.”
“Oh, I apologize but no. My sister, Danior, is responsible for all of our desserts.” Mallory would never tire of saying my sister. Danior had been found as a baby on the Vianu grounds not long after Mallory’s parents disappeared and were presumed dead. Nana had taken the baby in and raised the girls together, not realizing they were actually sisters.
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Gilda pouted.
“I’m sure if there are any extras, she’ll wrap you up a care package for the road.”
Gilda clapped delightedly.
“Oh, if you’ll excuse me. I just realized I left my flashlight in the pantry.” Her steps had been whisper-quiet on the thick carpet, but her ballet flats now made a tap-like sound on the tile as she entered the kitchen. She turned into the pantry and suddenly her feet were wet. Grabbing the flashlight from the counter and pointing the beam of light at the floor, Mallory could see she’d stepped into a puddle. In the middle of the pantry. Huh. At least no one could see her shoes under her long, black velvet skirt. Now that she was looking, the hem of her dress was wet as well. She needed to get someone to clean that up. Mallory shrugged and was about to move on when something caught her eye. It glittered in the puddle—a black onyx choker. She’d seen someone wearing this tonight, but who had it been?
Picking it up, an image of a rope flashed in her mind. Fear sliced through her, but it wasn’t her own fear.
“Mal? Are you all right?” Eve shook her and broke the emotional tie that bound her to the black onyx choker. “What are you doing in here? Are you leaking or something? The floor is wet.”
Mallory took a deep breath and released the feelings from the choker.
“I know. Did you need me for something?” Mallory asked, putting the choker in her pocket. It was hard for her to think about anything after touching the necklace. It seemed to her like she should look for its owner–she was in trouble.
Sometimes her gift exaggerated things–made the emotions or events tied to them seem bigger or more important than they were. Sometimes the things Mallory saw were unclear. They made sense only later, after she’d found out what had really happened.
“There’s a problem.” Eve stage whispered so loud, Bakalo, the resident gray cat, probably heard her on the third floor.
“Eve!” Danior said, walking in and slapping Eve’s arm.
“Owww! Knock it off, you, you Vianu!”
“Well, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Ladies,” Mallory grabbed their wrists and dragged them farther into the room. “You’re going to upset our guests. What’s wrong?”
“Well, a couple of them didn’t hear us,” Eve quipped.
“What are you talking about? And let Dan tell me, please.”
“What Eve is trying to say is that we have two guests that didn’t check-in during the move to the dining room.”
“Oh no, who are they?” Mal moaned.
“The Grand Poo-bah, that’s who, and her tight-assed assistant that flaps along in her wake,” Eve smirked. “Or would it be Grand Poo-bah-ess for a female?” Eve wondered aloud. “Grand Poo-bah-ette?”
“Eve, focus! Are you telling me that Madam Broome and Edwin Poe didn’t check-in with you, Dan?”
“That’s exactly what I am saying, unfortunately. I checked with Rebel, Penny and Ellie and they don’t recall seeing Sylvia since you spoke with her. It seems everyone noticed your conversation because she flirted shamelessly with Kaden.”
Mallory held her head in her hands and started mentally compiling a to-do list.
“I saw Mr. Poe in the kitchen a little while ago. We need to see if Rebel and Ellie will help Lizzy and Nataliya watch over all of the guests to make sure we don’t lose anyone else. Eve, will you grab Penny? She can help us search for the High Priestess and Mr. Poe.”
“I’ll go check on Emilion, it’s been forty-five minutes already and no lights. Again. I’m not waiting like last time,” Danior insisted.
“Oh no you don’t, missy! You’ll disappear for an hour to suck face with your boy-toy,” Eve taunted. “I’ll look for him, while you, Mal, and Penny search for the others. And, speaking of boy-toys, where did the BLPD guys go in such a hurry?”
“Kaden said there was a great deal of storm damage and they called all officers in to help out. And Eve, please check the basement first.”
Danior started sputtering. Mal held her hand up.
“I know he knows better, but it is dark even with a flashlight, and anything could have happened. Better to be safe.”
Danior nodded and ran off to the dining room.
SIX
M allory stood, staring into the roaring fire with Private Investigator Penny Trubble and Danior both at her side, rubbing her arms in a half-hearted attempt to relieve her apprehension. Two missing guests, she felt as though her world was weighing her down. Thank goodness Penny was here. She’d helped them on previous occasions to locate missing people… err dead bodies. Born and raised in Bohemian Lake, she’d tried a stint in the city as a cop, but had moved back and now worked with her dad at the family owned newspaper and detective agency. She was technically Eve’s boss, but with Eve, everything was viewed as a suggestion.
With Penny on the case, she could relax a little, although it would be better if Simza were here too. Where are you Simza? I could really use some spiritual guidance right now. Simza was her great-grandmother but she seemed to be on a ghostly sabbatical at the moment. Probably to recharge, after she helped rescue Mallory’s mother, Jilli.
Penny cleared her throat, breaking through Mallory’s morose thoughts.
“Oh, sorry, guys, I was day-dreaming.”
“It looked a little more like day-nightmaring,” Penny said gently.
“I’m just feeling sorry for myself.” Mallory shrugged her shoulders.
“Alright, ladies, should we split up or stay together?” Penny asked.
“Stay together!” All three chorused at the same time.
“We should check their rooms first, in case they’re just relaxing,” said Danior.
Penny tapped her chin, “Yeah, relaxing in the dark during the middle of Hexfest, sure.”
They headed up to th
e second floor; Danior had already grabbed the master room key from the reception area. Penny trailed her hand along the beautiful wooden banister as they proceeded as though a death march was playing. All three apparently felt an odd oppressiveness in the air. Maybe they were getting used to finding bodies and feared this would be the case again.
“You realize this is the suite Raymond Weasel had, right?” Danior asked as they walked up to Madam Broome’s door.
“Don’t remind me. Besides, numerous people have stayed in this room since then. It doesn’t mean everyone will die!”
“Then why are you pacing, Mal? You keep that up and we’ll have to replace the carpet.”
“Shut it!”
“You definitely sound like sisters now,” Penny chuckled.
Mallory walked up to the rich brown mahogany door, let loose three decisive quick-fire raps and turned her ear to the wood. She could announce herself as the manager, but what if they were doing something nefarious? Wouldn’t it be better to catch them in flagrante delicto? Hopefully, not naked. Eww. Of course, she did knock, so wouldn’t that alert them?
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Let’s try Poe’s room before we barge into Madam Broome’s,” said Penny.
“Mr. Poe is over here. Remember, we had to move Madam Broome when she arrived. Apparently, she was impersonating a diva, demanding that her assistant have a connecting door to do her bidding,” Danior said.
“She seemed so nice when she helped Star relocate here. It’s hard to imagine Star being friends with someone so… so—”
“Rude, arrogant, entitled?” Danior added for her.
“Yes, something like that.” Mallory replied while walking to the next door.
“Well, it was eight months ago, maybe Star was a balancing influence,” Danior said as she knocked on Edwin Poe’s door.
“I just hope she’s okay.” Mallory whispered.
“I’m sure everything will be fine. It sounds like this woman is used to giving orders, not taking them.” Penny added.
Mallory stopped pacing and looked back at Penny and Danior before confessing. “I’ve had this bad feeling all week and it just keeps getting stronger. Nana read my tarot cards and they predicted trouble… again. I’m starting to wonder if we are cursed or maybe it’s me since I still don’t know what I’m doing with my gifts.”
“Malhala Louise Vianu!” Danior huffed in her best Nana voice. “Do not let me hear you talk like that again. Who pulled mom out of the mirror? Not me, not Nana, you. You are an amazing sister with wonderful talents, so no more talk of being cursed for crying out loud. What would Kady Wady say if he heard you?”
Mallory burst out laughing. “Kady Wady? Wait until I tell him.”
“Don’t you dare! Or I’ll tell him you think your cursed!”
“Children. Do you think we should conduct the search for oh, I don’t know, the missing people?” Penny asked.
“At least I made her laugh.” Danior grumbled as she inserted the skeleton key and turned it. She knocked one more time before sticking her head just inside moving the flashlight around the room. “No one is here,” she whispered.
“Why are you whispering?”
“I don’t know. Because we shouldn’t be walking in?”
Penny pushed Danior out of the way and stepped inside. “We’re looking for missing guests. In this case, we have every right to enter rooms.”
All three looked around the room. One in the bathroom and one in the closet, while Penny looked through his things. There was an iPod on the night table, and a faint voice could be heard coming from the earbuds. Mal lifted one to her ear and then passed it to Penny. There was a chant. “She will share her secrets. She will share her secrets.” Over and over, the same line was repeated.
“Well, Edwin Poe seems to want someone’s secrets. I’m sure it’s Madam Broome. I think we should search her room now.”
Danior quickly unlocked the connecting door. The first pass of the beam of light revealed destruction. The room was a total mess. Clothes everywhere, loose in the closet, on the floor, even in the bathroom. Several potions littered the marble countertop haphazardly, some spilled in the sink. Mal sat down roughly on the toilet lid. They stared at each other for a minute, then they ran out into the wood-paneled hallway and started opening each guest’s room searching for Edwin and Sylvia. Mallory was taking no chances that the missing couple could be hurt or hiding in the other rooms of the manor. That mistake had been costly last year. No one. The trio climbed the stairs to the third floor. Penny searched the turret room. Danior went into their own personal suite. Mallory hoped Danior would check on their mother, Jilli. Ever since she had returned to her proper time, they found that she tired easily and seemed to catch a cold or flu every time someone sneezed. Nana had been plying her with tonics and remedies to build up her immune system along with chicken soup. The germs had kept mutating and getting stronger while Jilli’s system had not, trapped as she was in a magical mirror for eighteen years.
Jilli wasn’t very sociable yet. She would mingle with regular guests, but Hexfest was too large. She was glad that Danior was happy to share her room with her mother. They had a great deal of time to make up for, plus it was a temporary situation until Mallory moved into the cottage.
Mallory had chosen the attic to search since she occasionally received ghostly visits up there. They were sometimes helpful, like Simza had been, several months ago. She would appreciate a glowing orb to throw some light right about now. Mal had been picking her way through in a systematic manner, when she stubbed her toe on a low dresser. Cursing through the pain, she continued searching behind boxes and more furniture. Normally, there were small slivers of light cutting through the gloomy darkness from the slatted shutters during the day, but given that it was after sunset and they were in the midst of a storm, the attic was pitch black. It was as if the darkness was sucking the light from her flashlight, either that or her batteries were dying. Mal headed to the back of the large room to continue her search and stopped abruptly. In the far back corner, a small, dim light glowed. Mallory debated the wisdom of moving forward, however, she was not a coward. Scared, sure. It’s best to face fear head-on rather than hide from it. You would always be trapped by your fears otherwise. She started walking toward the corner, the flashlight beam angled toward the floor to avoid further mishaps. Before she took more than a few steps, suddenly in her flashlight beam there was a pair of luminescent green eyes staring at her.
“Bakalo! How do you always get in here?”
The cat, hearing his name, rubbed against Mallory’s velvet skirt.
“Thanks for the cat hair, my friend. Are you going to keep me company?”
Bakalo meowed.
“I’ll take that as a yes. We need to check out the far corner, okay?” Bakalo turned and headed to the corner in question.
As they neared, the chill in the air increased. This orb was quite small and gave off a miniscule amount of light. Mallory had no idea what that meant, but this seemed like a different entity from the one at Peace and Light. This one appeared to be weaker.
“Hello? Can you speak to me?” Mal asked.
The light just kept bobbing up and down above an old sewing basket resting on a dusty table. It seemed to be getting smaller, definitely weaker. Bakalo, hopped up swishing his tail back and forth, staring at the orb. It suddenly blinked out.
“Well, I’m not sure what to make of that. Let’s get out of here, since there’s no trace of my missing guests.” Mallory took a couple of steps and noticed her cat was not coming. He always shot in front of her. She turned back around to see him still sitting on the table.
“What is it, buddy?” Bakalo stared, then nosed at the sewing basket. Mallory shined her flashlight on it, unhooked the wicker loop from the button that kept it closed and lifted the lid. Dust swirled in the air, Mal sneezed. She peered in and gingerly began pushing items around with one finger —you never knew where you’d find spiders. When
she noticed a glint in the light, Mal removed several bobbins and spools of thread, uncovering a watch. It was a man’s watch—an antique Rotary brand. The square face only had the even numbers marked in Roman numerals; small lines denoted the odd hours. Where the six would be was a square indentation for a second hand. The leather band was still supple from years of wear. Mal turned it over, noticing an inscription. She shined her flashlight at an angle.
Marco,
Always!
Love, Jilli &
Malhala
This was her father’s watch. Mal closed her eyes and felt the burn of tears. She tried blinking them away, but she couldn’t stop them from streaming down her face as she hugged Bakalo to her and rocked them back and forth. This was not the type of thing Bakalo normally tolerated, but he seemed to know Mallory needed this, and purred like a small engine. She might be able to use this watch to help summon her father and, if nothing else, Mal now had something of his. She set her cat down, shaking her head. He had some ability, too, like the rest of them. Bakalo had pointed out too many items to be a coincidence. They jogged back to the front of the attic. Mallory strapped the watch on and scrubbed her tears away before exiting.
Just as she shut the attic door Danior and Penny met her in the hallway. It was obvious no one had been found.
“Mal, what’s wrong?” Danior looked at her with concern.
“Bakalo—and, I guess, a ghost—helped me find my dad’s watch,” Mallory answered while stretching her arm out.
Danior grabbed Mallory and squeezed her tight, but Mal pushed away quickly.
“Thank you for the hug, but I’ll start crying again. I need to talk to mom about this, but we have to finish the search.”
They were walking down the stairs to the second floor, heading for the Broome suite, when they heard a loud thump.
“That sounded like it came from the secret passageway.” Mallory noted.
“I’m not sure how secret it is,” Penny smirked.
They turned toward the rotunda bookcase. Danior pulled the book to open the door.
Ouija, Death & Wicked Witchery Page 3
