Then he stepped through the door of light and disappeared along with it.
“He says he feels the same,” I said. “He’s gone now.” I didn’t feel it was my place to tell the woman in front of me that her brother just told her that she might be joining him soon in the afterlife.
Once we were in the car, Kane spoke up.
“So how many more ghosts did you promise to help?” He said.
“Way too many,” I said. “Let’s just hope some of them are simpler than this one because I think that cabal of evil spirits killing mediums should be my priority.”
Eleven
Once we were back at the inn we found Rebecca and Charles waiting for us, not to mention a bunch of other earthbound spirits that I certainly didn’t have time for right now.
“We have to talk,” Rebecca said as soon as she saw me. Then she looked around. “Preferably somewhere that isn’t here.”
Several of the spirits stepped forward. The chief among them was the young woman that had taken care of the little boy.
“Has he moved on? Is he at peace now?” She asked me.
“Yes. He went to the other side, and I promise I’ll do whatever I can for you guys as well, but right now I have to figure out who’s been killing the mediums. If any of you know anything, don’t hesitate to come forward.”
The young woman took a few ghostly steps backward. As did the other ghosts. Apparently, they weren’t ready to talk. What was it that they were so afraid of? Weren’t they already dead?
As we walked back out of the inn, I hoped that Rebecca could shed some light. The most private spot we could find on such short notice was Kane’s van. He joined us, even though he couldn’t hear or see the ghosts. Charles tagged along as well, at Rebecca’s behest. She didn’t want him to get ‘lost’ again.
“So spill it. What did you find out?” I asked Rebecca.
“We did a little snooping around town, and don’t worry, we played it safe. We stayed away from the hot spots that gave off an unwelcoming energy. But we did run into a few more earthbound spirits while we were making our rounds.”
“Did they talk? Did they tell you what the cabal of spirits is all about?” I asked.
“Slow down, Meredith. I’m getting to that. We ran into this man that mostly kept to himself. He seemed to be bound to this one house because he couldn’t really leave it. But Charles and I bothered him until he would talk to us. At first, he just ignored us. I’m pretty sure he was living in his own fantasy land for years. But once he snapped out of it and started to talk, he said some very interesting things. Apparently, a few years back, he wasn’t really sure how long for obvious reasons, a man in a dark overcoat entered his house and made him an offer.”
“Was this man living or dead?” I asked.
“His memory is a little fuzzy, but he said he thought that he remembered the man walking in through a wall of the house, so I’m guessing dead. Unless there are some living people with that ability. Anyway, the man in the dark overcoat made him an offer. He told him that if he wanted to be free of the house and move about without problems, that he should join his group.”
“His group? Did he say what all of that was about?”
“I’m getting to that,” Rebecca said, looking more than a bit annoyed. “That’s what the guy we met asked. He was never really a people person, and now that he was dead, even less so. The man in the overcoat said that as individuals they did not have much power, but when they got together, that their power was almost limitless. The guy we talked to said ‘no thanks’ and that was that. The man in the overcoat left.”
“Interesting,” I thought out loud. “So I’m guessing this man in the overcoat tried to recruit the ghosts at the inn, too? Maybe he’ll even try recruiting you,” I said to Rebecca.
“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure they’re aware that I’m here with you, plus, I was there when you helped Charles.”
I turned to Charles. “Did anything come back to you?”
Charles shook his head. “No. I still have no memory of how I ended up in that state, but I think I have a pretty good guess. It’s this group of spirits that are responsible for my death. I just don’t know why?”
“Maybe you bothered them one time too many?” Rebecca offered.
Charles gave her an admonishing look. “I was always respectful toward the dead. If they didn’t feel like talking to me, they didn’t have to come.”
“Speaking of dead people, have you tried talking to Madeline?” I asked Charles. “She’s in quite the state now. She doesn’t even know she’s dead.”
“We tried just before you arrived, but she completely ignored us,” Charles said.
“What I don’t get is what the point was of leaving you in that state?” I thought out loud. “What was their endgame?”
“I don’t know and frankly, I’m afraid to find out. If they can hurt me even as a ghost, then maybe this isn’t the safest place for me to be. Maybe I should try moving on to another town?”
“Or, you could just focus on actually moving on altogether,” I said. “Remember, your main priority should be to go into the light.”
“If the light doesn’t come, I’d rather not end up in darkness.”
“Charles has a point, Meredith,” Rebecca said. “This group of spirits is dangerous. I think they’ve already proven that by killing two people in two days. Though their body count could be much higher for all we know.”
That was a chilling thought. “So what do you suggest I do?” I asked the two ghosts. “Should I check out the basement?”
“I don’t think talking will do the trick,” Rebecca said. “You need someone down there who can figure out what their deal is without disturbing them too much.”
“Do you mean like a psychic or something?” I said.
“Exactly,” Rebecca said. “Otherwise, you might just upset them and get nothing out of it.”
“What about the salt and iron circle?” I said.
“Do you remember what happened when you tried that on Charles?” Rebecca reminded me.
“They didn’t like it,” I said.
“Exactly. And when they don’t like something, murder seems to be their MO. I don’t want you to end up like me and Charles,” she said.
She certainly had a point there. I definitely didn’t want to end up like them. Though from what I’d seen so far, Charles and Madeline actually invited the spirits in to speak through them. I would never do such a thing. I could see ghosts, but I wasn’t a medium in the sense that they could speak through me in a literal sense.
“Do you think Lady Rosanna would be interested?” I asked the two ghosts.
Neither looked too convinced.
“If you offered enough money,” Charles said.
“There is one thing I can do. I can talk to the owner of the inn and tell him or her not to hold any more séances.”
“Their whole business model is being a haunted inn. Do you really think that will work?” Rebecca asked me.
“It’s worth a shot.”
And that’s exactly what we did. Kane and I marched up to the reception desk and got the attention of the receptionist.
“Can we talk to the owner of this place?” I asked her.
“You’re speaking to her,” she said.
“Good,” I said. “I would like to know if you’re planning on having any more séances here?”
“As a matter of fact, we are. There’s one scheduled for later tonight. Would you like to buy some tickets?”
“No. I would like you to cancel it and any future séances altogether. At least until we find out what really happened to Charles and Madeline.”
The receptionist scoffed at that. “They were both natural deaths from what I’ve been told. And while tragic, the show must go on. This place doesn’t pay for itself. So unless you’re willing to make an offer on it, I’ll continue to run my business as I see fit. In fact,” she said, looking through her guestbook. “It looks like it’s
time for you to check out anyway.”
“I’ll be extending my stay for a few more days,” I said.
“Then you will have to pay upfront,” she said without missing a beat.
Once that was sorted, I was so livid that I had to leave the inn at once.
“What now?” Kane asked. He didn’t look too happy that we were staying a few more days at the inn, but since we already had that argument, he kept his reservations to himself.
“Let’s go to Lady Rosanna’s,” I said. “Let’s see if she’s willing to help.”
We arrived there without an appointment and not surprisingly, Lady Rosanna was already with a client. Charles and Rebecca checked in on her and it looked like she was putting on quite the show. We decided to slip in after she was done with that client.
“This is most unprofessional,” she said as soon as we barged in. “There’s a line of people who already paid for my time waiting.”
“This will be quick, I promise,” I said. “I just have a quick question. Will you come over to the inn and check out the basement? I’ll pay you for your trouble, of course.”
Lady Rosanna dismissed the idea with the wave of her hand. “Not a chance,” she said. “I don’t want to be the next one being wheeled out of that place in a body bag. But I might know of some people that might be willing to take the risk.”
She rummaged through her things until she pulled out a card. “Ah, here it is,” she said as she handed it to me.
“Ghostly Hunters,” I read the card. “For all your ghostly needs. If you’re haunted, we’re here to help!”
“Ghost hunters? I’m a ghost hunter, too. What I need is a psychic.”
“Then you’re in luck,” Lady Rosanna said. “Because they have a psychic on the team.”
Once we were out of there, Kane spoke up.
“So now you’re going to join a ghost hunting group?” He said. “Don’t you always complain that they don’t know what they’re doing and that all their instruments are toys at best?”
“That’s the impression I get from the ones that are on TV. Maybe these people are different. Especially if they have a real psychic on the team.”
“I guess we’ll see just how different they are,” Kane said as he got into the van. Charles and Rebecca soon followed.
I called the number on the business card to make sure we weren’t going there while they were out on the job.
A woman answered. “Ghostly Hunters. How may I help you?”
“I’m on my way to your address. Are you guys there right now?”
“We sure are. May I ask what this is about?”
“I’d rather not say on the phone. We’ll be there soon.”
Kane had already put the address into his phone. According to the directions we were given, it was a fifteen-minute drive. We drove out of the center of the town and were now in the outskirts.
“I guess business is not that good if they have to be so far away from the action,” Kane said.
“I just hope that psychic will be able to pick up something at the inn.”
“That is, if they agree to come to the inn,” Kane reminded me.
That’s right. Lady Rosanna certainly wasn’t interested. But I hadn’t heard of a ghost hunting group that would say no to a haunted inn, especially one that had two recent deaths.
The part we were driving in, the houses were further and further apart. But once we did arrive at our location, I was surprised that we were looking at a pretty large Victorian-style house.
We got out of the van, Charles and Rebecca, too. We walked up the steps to the front door.
Rebecca and Charles went in because ghosts could just go through walls and doors, they didn’t need them to be opened for them first.
I hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” Kane asked.
“Nothing. I just hope that I’m not putting these people in danger.”
“Tell them the truth and let them decide for themselves,” he said.
Kane was right.
“Here goes nothing,” I said and then pressed the doorbell button.
Twelve
When the door opened, a young woman with long cornrow braided hair looked at us.
“You must be Meredith Good?” She said to me. Then she turned toward Kane. “And who is this?”
“This is my boyfriend, Kane. He’s a private investigator, of the mundane variety. But he has helped me with some of my own cases.”
“How interesting,” she said. “Please do come in. We’ve all been excited to meet you.”
“I’m Rachel by the way,” she said. “And before you ask, no, I’m not the psychic. That’s Chloe. I just deal with the promotional angle pretty much and help out in the field. Don’t worry, you’ll meet the rest of the team soon enough anyway.”
Rachel led us into what looked like a living room. It didn’t look all that neat. There was equipment and papers strewn about everywhere. Not to mention the coffee cups just left, or more likely deserted, halfway through use. Rachel offered us something to drink but I declined, and so did Kane.
While Rachel went to get the rest of the team, Kane and I looked around. It looked like a pretty big house and I wondered how the four of them had gotten it.
We met Mike and Jacob next. Mike looked a bit older than either Rachel or Jacob. Though they all looked like they were straight out of college, if not still in college. Mike introduced himself as the technical wizard of the team. He dealt with all the gadgets and equipment they used to catch spirit activity. Jacob was their cameraman. The only one I hadn’t met so far was Chloe, the psychic, who ironically, I was looking most forward to meeting.
After we talked amongst ourselves for a while, Chloe finally appeared. She had long red hair and a solemn look about her.
“Hi, I’m Meredith Good,” I said as I got up to shake her hand. She recoiled almost immediately.
“Don’t take it personally,” Rachel said. “Her gift works by touching people or things and she doesn’t want to be overwhelmed with psychic impressions while she’s not on the job.”
“What she said,” Chloe said meekly. “But from what I’ve heard of you, I’m surprised you would need our help to talk to any spirits. Weren’t you on that show about that magician? It sounded like you could talk to him as easily as you’re talking to us right now.”
I looked behind Chloe and saw Rebecca and Charles there. “It’s true. There are two ghosts right behind you now. But don’t worry, they came with us.”
“Good,” Mike said. “We try to make sure this house stays as clear as possible. We don’t want to be tracking any ghosts with us from our jobs. It’s happened a few times, and let me tell you, it’s not that fun. Things disappearing, things falling down for no apparent reason, sudden chills in the middle of the night, not to mention waking up from terrible nightmares. Thankfully, Rachel is into all that sage, crystals, and cleansing stuff. And it actually works!”
“Well, the current situation is a little more, should I say, delicate? I believe that there’s a group of spirits in this town that is actually killing people.”
“That’s quite the claim, Meredith,” Jacob said. “Do you have any evidence of this?”
“If you mean if I have it caught on tape, then I don’t,” I said and laughed. “But I was there for both occasions. I was there when both Charles Mathers and Madame Madeline died.”
“I thought they said those were natural deaths?” Rachel said. “Not that I ever actually believed it. Of course, Mike, Jacob, and Chloe thought I was crazy.”
“You’re not crazy. I attended both of those séances with Kane. We saw both mediums being taken over by a spirit and then just drop dead right in front of us.”
“Did the spirits speak through the mediums before they died?” Chloe asked.
“As a matter of fact, they did,” I said. “One of them said something about being woken from sleep. Also something about punishing those that ‘walk on graves’ and how they’re coming
for me. Oh, and it was all said in some demonic sounding voice,” I said.
“Well, that’s very ominous,” Jacob said. “But what do you want us to do about it?”
“I talked to the owner of the inn about stopping the séances, but she would have none of it. There’s another séance tonight. And I want you guys to be there. Not at the séance, because I have a feeling the same thing will probably happen again and I don’t want to be present at three possible murder scenes. The local PD has made that very clear. No, I want us to go down to the basement and check it out.”
“The basement? Why?” Mike said.
It was a good question. And now I just needed to tell them about the strange invitation I had gotten and everything that had happened since. I did so and tried not to leave out any important bits.
“So yeah, it’s quite dangerous,” I said. “If Carl is right, this is a very dangerous group of spirits that have the ability to camouflage themselves. They have the ability to only be noticeable to other ghosts. Not to mention that they seem to be recruiting dead people. I understand if you guys don’t want to get involved, because I do not have the permission of the owner of the inn. I just thought we could sneak in when the crowds are coming for the séance. Now that there have been two deaths in two days, I believe the crowds will be bigger than ever.”
“We don’t have anything against covert operations in this group,” Mike said.
I looked around where we were sitting. “This is quite a nice place you guys have here. Do you all live together?”
“Yes, we do,” Rachel said. “This house actually used to belong to Mike’s family.”
“How long have you guys been at this ghost hunting thing?” I asked the group.
“A little over four years,” Mike said. “We started out while we were still in college but now we do it full time.”
“Does it actually pay the bills?” I asked.
“It actually does,” Mike said. “Of course we do travel a lot.”
“Same here,” I said. While Kane talked to Jacob and Mike about the equipment they were using and if they actually captured anything with it, I chose to focus my attention on Chloe. She hadn’t said much since we arrived and I wondered what was going through her head. Why did she look so depressed?
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