With my dog in my arms, I ran back down the hall. I was terrified, of course, but I was also angry. Angry at myself that I had brought my dog to a horrible place like this. Angry that I hadn’t listened to Midas but instead had come to the Leaf Academy like a high schooler hell-bent on mischief. I had put us both in a bad situation.
“It’s okay, Sherman. It’s going to be okay,” I promised, hoping that I could make that be the truth. There was no sign of Ollie, no sign of the lady in red. Even the music had stopped. Whatever power Hugh had, he was using it. He must be, or else I wouldn’t be leaving so freely. Sherman struggled now, but I refused to put him down. I warned him to stay still as I opened the front door and we scrambled out of the house.
It was raining now. I hadn’t heard it raining inside, but it was coming down in buckets. Yet the sun was shining! What in the world? It hadn’t been raining when I was in the auditorium. I would have seen it; I would have seen rain pouring through the holes in the walls and roof. This was no ordinary rainstorm.
Forget about it, Jocelyn Graves. Just forget about it. You can ponder the meaning of it all later.
I raced to the car, but not before plunging into a mudhole twice. I shoved the key in the ignition and raced down the driveway. I wasn’t looking back. Not any time soon.
Chapter Fifteen—Jocelyn
“Hey, Jocelyn. I’m so happy to finally meet you in person. I’m Adrian. You’ll have to pardon Mr. Holloway’s absence. I’m afraid he’s taken a turn for the worse.”
“I had no idea he was sick. I am sorry to hear that. And thanks for sending your maintenance guy to help me retrieve all my things. I feel a bit like a chicken, but once I tell you everything, I think you’ll understand.” Adrian nodded politely. She had a round face, perfect makeup and lovely dark hair that she kept swept back from her face with a barrette. She was dressed professionally, whereas I looked like I just rolled out of bed in my torn jeans and bleached Ireland t-shirt. “And I really am sorry to hear about Mr. Holloway.”
“He is such a nice man. Really active until he turned eighty; then it was just downhill from there. I know he hates that. He’s always been such a force of nature, at least in our family.”
“Oh,” I said with surprise in my voice. I unzipped my laptop bag and pulled out my computer carefully. “I didn’t know you two were related.”
“He’s my grandfather.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t put that together. Does that mean you’ll be handling the Leaf Academy property someday? I know you said you didn’t enjoy going there.”
“Yes, I think so. My children and I are the only Holloways left, and I most certainly don’t want to pass the property down to them if it’s as bad as I suspect.”
I turned on the laptop but paused before digging out the jump drive. This lady was very afraid of the spirits of the Leaf Academy. She had reason to be, I could not lie about that, but I couldn’t leave her feeling helpless. I decided I would do my best to give her some hope and offer her something she could use to battle the forces that believed the deserted building was their home.
“I wish I could tell you how to put an end to the goings-on there. I really do. Unfortunately, that’s not in my wheelhouse; however, I know someone who may be able to help you. His name is Midas Demopolis. He’s a friend of mine and the leader of Gulf Coast Paranormal. I saw a lot at the Leaf Academy, but it will take a team to really dig into the place’s activities. I’m going to consult with him, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to dump this information on you and leave you to deal with it on your own.”
“Really? You would do that?” She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. I sure didn’t mean to make her cry.
“Of course I will. I think you should know that bringing peace to that property is going to be a process. It is not going to be a one-smudge-and-done job. You’ll have to call on whatever faith you have if you want to rid the place of the current residents.”
“So it is haunted? For sure? No doubt in your mind? My grandfather always believed that. He believed that the Leaf Academy killed his brother. Is that possible?”
“The Leaf Academy is haunted and in a deeply malevolent way. There’s something old there, maybe even ancient.” She was taken aback by my comment. Rein it in, Jocelyn. Show the evidence. “I found this journal while I was exploring the place. I’m surprised no one else spotted it.” I dug the dusty book, along with the drawings I’d tucked in it, out of my backpack and slid it toward her.
She flipped it open as she slid on her glasses. “What’s all this?”
“I found this journal in one of the rooms on the second floor. It belonged to Moriah Mitchell, the headmaster of the Leaf Academy when Hugh McCandlish was murdered.”
“Really? I hired someone to remove all those boxes, all the personal stuff. Apparently they didn’t get everything.” She began skimming through the pages. “What’s this?” she asked as she removed one of the drawings. The expression on her face said it all. She thought it was disgusting too. “Wait…is this you?” She looked at me closely and then at the drawing.
“Yes, I think so. So much happened; I hardly know where to start, Adrian.”
“Did you draw these? Because they look really old.”
“I think they are really old. Probably at least eighty years old. If I had to guess, I would say that the boy, the one that Hugh McCandlish called Ollie and the same one that Mitchell refers to in his journal, was the artist. Here’s where it gets weird; I don’t believe he’s actually a boy at all. He may never have been a boy.”
“Really? Why do you say that?”
“Well, I have a theory, but I’d like to show you the rest of the evidence I have for you first.”
She let out a deep breath and said, “Okay, I’m ready.”
“This was the first day. I caught the image of the boy like right off the bat.” I plugged my jump drive into the laptop and pulled up the folder of images I planned to show her. There he was, the ‘boy’ Ollie. “You can see the hair, the profile of his face. This is his arm.” I pointed at the screen.
“Oh my God. I can see him!” Her hands flew to her mouth. “My grandfather was telling the truth all along. He saw him too, when he was a teenager, before his brother died. And here in this photo, this…spirit looks so lifelike. And you saw this with your own two eyes?”
“Wait. Mr. Holloway saw him?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t like to talk about the encounter much. His father owned the place before him, and he and his brother spent many summers there trying to repair it. Old Mr. Holloway wanted to make the place an office complex, but it never worked out. After Gary died, my great-grandfather was so devastated that he never wanted to do anything else there. All the work stopped.”
“I can understand that.” I showed the shaken brunette a few more pictures and then clicked on the audio file. “Listen to this, Adrian.”
I played the friendly “come find me” first and then the growls I’d captured in the auditorium. Suddenly, Adrian began to wipe at her eyes. She was clearly horrified.
“And this horrible thing is connected to my family. It killed my great-uncle. God forbid my grandfather passes and I have to handle this. I want to sell the place, but how can I? Who’s going to buy it? I never liked going in there, and now I know why.”
I had more to show her; I hadn’t even reviewed the hours and hours of audio and video. But this was enough. I closed the laptop. “Are you okay? Can I get you a glass of water?”
She smiled politely and dried her eyes one more time. “Yes, I will be fine. It’s just I half-hoped it was just a story, just a family legend, but it can’t be. And how did you get those pictures? I don’t understand. Something in that journal has you disturbed too.”
In for a penny, in for a pound.
“There are several different kinds of hauntings, residual, intelligent…”
“I’ve seen some of the ghost hunting shows. I think I understand that part, Jocelyn. Clearly, this thing is intellige
nt. Right?”
“Yes, but it’s more than that. I think what’s at the Leaf Academy is extremely rare. There are ghosts, many of them, as you may have already guessed. But I don’t think they want to be there. I think that the negative entity—this thing that pretends to be a little boy named Ollie—is actually what’s known as a maelstrom. Have you ever heard of that?”
She shook her head, her eyes locked on me. “No, what is it?”
“Like I said, it’s a rarity. Maelstroms create pandemonium wherever they appear. From what we know—the paranormal community, I mean—these maelstroms draw unhappy spirits to them and capture them, like a spiritual whirlwind. They don’t willingly let the trapped spirits go, nor do they move on once they’ve established themselves in a location. Not easily. Maelstroms gain strength from the captured spirits, and it is this entity’s goal to continue to add to its unhappy community.”
“How did it get there? Is it human?”
“I don’t believe it is human, but it might have been a very long time ago. How it got there? I can’t tell you that either, but it has been lurking there for ages, at least as long as the academy was open. Moriah Mitchell knew about ‘Ollie,’ and he had to have heard about him from someone. He tried to help Hugh McCandlish, but he wasn’t strong enough or prepared enough to take it on. Maelstroms like to play mind games with their targets. Like this picture. It was playing with me, threatening to kill me. Luckily for me, my dog was with me. He saved my life.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I shuddered at the thought. “I am really sorry about prematurely ending the investigation, but the truth is I wasn’t prepared for it either. It is strong, and it wants out of there. Right now it can’t get out, but who’s to say it won’t try again?”
“What are my options? Burn it to the ground?” Adrian eyed me seriously.
“Would that help? I couldn’t say, but I promise you this isn’t over. Gulf Coast Paranormal, that’s Midas’ team, they can help you and they won’t charge you a thing. Please, let me call him before you do anything. It’s worth a shot, right?”
“Yes, it is. If it brings peace to my family or to the spirits trapped there, I am willing to wait. I just hope we can figure it all out before my grandfather leaves this world.”
I squeezed her hand. “We’ll try, Adrian.”
“And you’ll call this Midas person for me?”
“I’ll do it tonight.”
Half an hour later, I left Adrian’s realty office and headed home. No, it wasn’t mission accomplished, but Sherman and I had made it out alive. And that was all that mattered. My heart went out to Adrian. It really did. I hoped that Midas could and would help her.
We’d have to see about that. In the meantime, I had to go home.
My best friend was waiting for me.
Epilogue—Jocelyn
A good hot shower for me and a nice soapy bath for Sherman helped set my mind at ease, but there was one last thing to do. Did I really want to do it? Gosh, why was this so hard? I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to say no.
Screw it. I’m doing it.
I tapped the number on the screen and waited for him to pick up. I cleared my throat awkwardly as I heard his voice on the phone. “Hey, Aaron? It’s me, Jocelyn. I was wondering if you liked pizza. I mean, did you have plans for dinner? Because I was thinking about grabbing a slice or two. I thought it might be nice to have someone to talk with, besides my dog.”
His warm laugh filled my ears, and I instantly felt better. “No plans, and pizza sounds perfect. Nothing exotic, though. No pineapple for me.”
“No pineapple for me either. I’m a pepperoni girl. See you at the Golden Mushroom? Around six?”
We agreed on the details and I hung up the phone. I was so glad Aaron didn’t say anything skeezy or flirty. Pete used to do that all the time, and it drove me crazy. I didn’t like my relationships filled with a lot of innuendo or flirtatious banter. Okay, once in a while, but not every conversation.
So, I was doing this, right?
I had one more call to make. The phone rang a few times, and just when I was ready to hang up I heard Midas’ voice on the line. “Hey, Jocelyn. Glad to hear from you. Are you back home?”
“Yeah, I got home yesterday.”
“I take it you found what you were looking for?”
“And more. Listen, I’m calling to let you know that I wear a medium and I will need at least two shirts. I don’t do laundry as faithfully as I should.”
“I’ve got those. Does this mean you’ll be going to Gulfport with us?”
“I’d like to, if there’s room still. I don’t want to bump anyone if the van is full.”
“Not full, and we’re taking the SUV too. There’s plenty of room.”
I tossed Sherman his yellow squeaky ball, which he immediately brought back. “I went to the Leaf Academy, Midas. I hate to admit this, but I’m totally out of my league. Gathering evidence? No problem. Telling the client she has a maelstrom on her property? The pits.”
The line went so quiet I could have heard a pin drop. At least he didn’t say I told you so. “You’re okay, though?”
“Yes, thanks to my dog and a ghost named Hugh McCandlish. I was hoping you could talk to Adrian, maybe connect her with a local ministry that has experience with evicting maelstroms. Someone that would be committed for the long haul ’cause it’s not going to be an easy task.”
“Of course I will. You’ll have to fill me in.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Midas. I appreciate that.” I smiled and threw Sherman his toy again. “One more thing…I called Aaron, and we’re going to have pizza tonight. I just thought you should know.”
“Great. I’m sitting here with Cassidy. We’re headed to the Causeway for seafood and beers. And for the record, I don’t have to know all the details of your personal life. I know you, Jocelyn. You always behave like a professional.”
Images of me running from the Leaf Academy with my dog in my arms and falling in the mud not once but twice filled my mind. Nobody had to know about that, did they? Everyone loses their nerve once in a while. Right, big professional here. I glanced at the load of camera equipment still piled up by the front door. I was in no hurry to review the remainder of the evidence, but I would—in the next day or seven. I’d been very selective about what I’d shown Adrian, and I had a sneaking suspicion there was so much more.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Y’all have a good night.”
“You too, Jocelyn.” He hung up the phone, and I wrestled with Sherman for a while. He was so happy to be home with me, he didn’t even try to follow me when I walked to the door in my little black dress and dress sandals a few hours later.
“I’ll be back, Sherm. Don’t wait up.”
As I closed the door and locked it behind me, I heard the flicking of a lighter. The old-fashioned kind. I froze momentarily but didn’t look back. No, I wouldn’t look back. I just wasn’t that kind of person. I didn’t run exactly, but I hurried to the car and headed to the pizza joint.
Time to leave the dead behind. At least for a little while.
Connect with M.L. Bullock on Facebook. To receive updates on her latest releases, visit her website at M.L. Bullock and subscribe to her mailing list. You can also contact her at [email protected].
About the Author
Author of the best-selling Seven Sisters series and the Desert Queen series, M.L. Bullock has been storytelling since she was a child. A student of archaeology, she loves weaving stories that feature her favorite historical characters—including Nefertiti. She currently lives on the Gulf Coast with her family but travels frequently to explore the southern states she loves so much.
Read more from M.L. Bullock
The Nike Chronicles
Blue Water
Blue Wake
Blue Tide
The Seven Sisters Series
Seven Sisters
Moonlight Falls on Seven Sisters
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br /> Shadows Stir at Seven Sisters
The Stars that Fell
The Stars We Walked Upon
The Sun Rises Over Seven Sisters
Christmas at Seven Sisters (bonus short stories)
Ghost on a Swing (series prequel)
The Idlewood Series
The Ghosts of Idlewood
Dreams of Idlewood
The Whispering Saint
The Haunted Child
Return to Seven Sisters
(A Seven Sisters Sequel Series)
The Roses of Mobile
All the Summer Roses
Blooms Torn Asunder
A Garden of Thorns
The Gulf Coast Paranormal Series
The Ghosts of Kali Oka Road
The Ghosts of the Crescent Theater
A Haunting on Bloodgood Row
The Legend of the Ghost Queen
A Haunting at Dixie House
The Ghost Lights of Forrest Field
The Ghost of Gabrielle Bonet
The Ghost of Harrington Farm
The Creature on Crenshaw Road
Gulf Coast Paranormal Extras
The October People
Shabby Hearts Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series
A Touch of Shabby
Shabbier by the Minute
Shabby by Night
The Sugar Hill Series
Wife of the Left Hand
Fire on the Ramparts
Blood by Candlelight
The Starlight Ball
His Lovely Garden
Ghosts of Summerleigh Series
The Belles of Desire, Mississippi
The Ghost of Jeopardy Belle
The Lady in White
The Vampires of Rock and Roll Series
Elegant Black
Lost Camelot Series
Guinevere Forever
Guinevere Unconquered
The Desert Queen Series
The Tale of Nefret
The October People (Gulf Coast Paranormal Extra Book 1) Page 8
