by Rose Pressey
“Maybe that’s something we should do,” Brannon said. “Confront it. That might be the only way to make it go away.”
Chapter 13
“Have you lost your mind?” I asked.
That was probably the first time I’d ever asked Brannon that question. In my defense, it was the first time he’d ever suggested something so crazy.
“Well, I meant confront the spirit through the Ouija board. We could ask questions,” Brannon said.
The group stared at us. I was pretty sure they thought Brannon’s idea was bad too.
“No way.” I waved my hand. “Not with the Ouija board and a demon. That’s crazy talk. Besides, you don’t like me using Ouija boards, remember?”
“How else are we going to find out why it wanted to get you? It’s not going to go away. We have to get rid of it.” Brannon said.
“Maybe we shouldn’t ask why and just get rid of it,” I said. “That’s what the demonologist does. We’ll just give him a call. This is not one of those do it yourself projects.”
“I guess you have a point,” he said.
“How did you say you’d get rid of it?” Mrs. Clatterbuck asked. “You can get rid of ghosts?”
She looked as if this was the first time that the thought had crossed her mind. Ha. Maybe I should let her believe that. Maybe now she’d be nicer to me, although she was starting to melt her icy demeanor just a tad. After all, she’d given me a Kleenex. That was a huge move forward.
“Why did you leave me the note?” I pressed for more answers from the carolers.
The carolers looked at each other.
“Who are you asking?” The one in the green asked.
I pointed at the one in the black cloak. “You left me a note and told me not to do the Christmas tour.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t leave you a note. Why are you accusing me of that?”
“I have video evidence. It shows you leaving the note for me at the library.”
She waved her hand. “I didn’t do that. It must have been someone else. Did you see me? My face on the video?”
“Well, I didn’t see your face.” I smirked. “But no one else is wearing a black cloak around town.”
“Wait,” she said. “I know what happened.”
Movement caught my attention. Mrs. Sullivan had approached the gate. She wiped her eyes with a tissue but didn’t speak.
“It was her.” The woman in the black cloak pointed.
Everyone looked at Mrs. Sullivan.
“What?” she asked as if she had no idea why everyone watched her.
Apparently, she had no idea what we’d been discussing.
“Mrs. Sullivan left the note? She was the one wearing the black cloak? How did that happen?” I asked.
“Someone took my cloak. We’d stopped in the coffee shop after our trip to the library. We got that delicious hot chocolate. I took my cloak off and the next thing I knew it was missing,” she said. “Mrs. Sullivan has to be the one who took it.”
I turned my attention back to Mrs. Sullivan. “Did you take the cloak?”
She waved the tissue. “I took it back.”
“Took it back? You dumped it in front of the coffee shop door. The owner called to tell me it had been returned.”
“I couldn’t take it inside because that dark shadow came after me,” Mrs. Sullivan said.
“Sounds like this dark shadow has been chasing quite a few people,” Brannon said.
“Why us? Why would it chase us?” The woman in the green cloak asked.
“Maybe there’s some kind of connection with you all,” I said.
“I can’t imagine what. Is it gone for good?” The woman asked.
“I have no way of knowing,” I said.
“I’m not sure I believe any of this,” Mrs. Clatterbuck said in her usual cranky tone.
No one heard her comment. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t believe. She’d seen dark shadows before. Movement caught my attention again. When I glanced over the group’s shoulders, I saw it. The dark shadow was moving slowly, creeping down the alleyway toward us. Mrs. Sullivan was next to see it.
“There it is again,” Mrs. Sullivan screeched.
Chapter 14
She dashed over and hid behind me. Brannon turned his attention toward the alley too.
“All right, no one panic,” he said, trying to take over calmly so that there wouldn’t be chaos with everyone running at once.
To my surprise, everyone did as he instructed, remaining frozen on the spot. They stared as the dark shadow crept closer to us. I had to admit I wanted to run too. Everyone’s eyes widened as the thing moved slowly toward us. I was starting to panic but Brannon was still telling us not to move. Why? Why couldn’t we run away? Who wanted to stay there and let this thing attack us? When it grew near, it zigzagged around the group of carolers. Was it coming for me? It looked as if it was coming right at me.
“Oh, my goodness,” Mrs. Sullivan said. “What’s happening?”
Fear raced through me. I couldn’t exactly run and leave her standing there, so now we were both doomed. Mrs. Sullivan must have thought this too and didn’t want to be involved when this thing attacked me. She moved to the right, but to my surprise, that dark shadow moved to the left and was now going after her. The dark shadow wanted her? I guess that was why it had been at her house. Now what would we do? I had to save her. I couldn’t let this thing get her.
It was right up on her now as I ran toward them. As she screamed out, thinking this thing was going to grab her, it just disappeared. It vanished into nothing. Gone. Poof. I stood there in shock as everyone gasped. When I looked at Brannon, he shrugged.
“Mrs. Sullivan, are you all right?” I asked.
She released a deep breath. “I’m all right now, I suppose. It’s been a terrible evening. Well, it was good when I saw my husband, but other than that, not so great.”
“Maybe you should get home now,” I said, taking her by the arm.
“We can take you,” Brannon said.
Brannon and I guided Sarah toward the alleyway to make sure she got home safely.
“Is it all right if we still come to the Christmas party tomorrow at the library?” the woman in the yellow cloak asked.
“Absolutely,” I said. “I’m sorry if there was a misunderstanding.”
“I’m sorry as well,” Mrs. Sullivan said.
“Perfect,” she said.
We were all on the lookout for the dark shadow as we moved down the alleyway. Just to make sure it didn’t return.
Brannon and I took Mrs. Sullivan home, pulling up in front of her little white house. We parked the car and walked her to the door.
“I hope you’ll come to the Christmas party tomorrow. What do you say? We’ll have lots of goodies, a gift exchange, and festive music. It’ll just be a lot of fun,” I said.
“I’ll consider that,” she said.
I would be disappointed if she didn’t make it. I really wanted her to be there.
Chapter 15
The next day we were at the library. The party was in full swing with gifts being exchanged and Christmas music filling the room. People had picked names for a gift exchange and we were just getting ready to open the presents. I’d picked up a gift for Mrs. Sullivan before coming to work this morning, just in case she came.
When the library door opened and I saw her walking through, I almost wanted to cry. She smiled as she walked toward the desk. She was holding a present in one hand and a tray of cookies in the other.
I hurried over to her. “Mrs. Sullivan, er, Sarah, I’m so glad that you made it.”
“Thank you for inviting me, Ripley. I baked cinnamon cookies.” She placed the tray she held in her right hand down on top of the counter. “I also brought you a gift.”
I couldn’t hide my enthusiasm, and loudly said, “I got you a gift too.”
Her eyes widened. “You bought me a gift?”
I rushed around and grabbed it from under
the counter. After exchanging boxes, Sarah and I opened our gifts at the same time. Pulling the red ribbon off and then tearing into the green paper, I pulled the top off the box. Inside revealed a red hardcover book with a lovely gold scroll pattern border.
“A Christmas Carol,” I said, looking at her.
“Yes, well, since I wanted to banish Christmas, I figured it was appropriate.” She laughed.
“That’s all changed now,” I said around a chuckle.
“It has illustrations too,” Sarah announced proudly.
“It’s beautiful and so thoughtful,” I said. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I wanted to get you something. After all, you did to help me, I just wanted to say thank you.”
“Now open yours,” I urged.
I’d bought Mrs. Sullivan a silver photo frame.
Sarah pulled back the edges of the box. “It’s lovely.”
“I thought you could put a picture of your husband in the frame.”
“Yes, I know just the picture,” she said. “Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome, Mrs., I mean, Sarah,” I said.
To my surprise, she reached out and hugged me. The smell of cinnamon encircled me.
After a few seconds of embrace, she let go and then said, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need eggnog.”
I chuckled. “Of course.”
“Don’t forget to try one of my cookies,” she said as she walked away.
Brannon entered the library and walked over. “Once again, you know how to throw a party.”
“I had help from a few friends,” I said with a smile.
I glanced over and spotted Tammy passing out cookies. Annie sat on top of one of the stacks. She swayed along with the music. Jane Austen lounged in the sunshine-bathed window, sleeping as if none of this was even happening.
“At least now we know why Mrs. Sullivan hated Christmas so much,” Brannon said.
“That dark shadow is still a mystery though,” I said.
“Not really, I think I figured it out. The shadow was likely a manifestation of Mrs. Sullivan’s emotions. That was why when it rushed up to her it disappeared. I read that in a book while doing a bit of research.” He smiled.
“She was the one chasing me?” I asked. “She scared herself too?”
Brannon nodded. “That’s what happened. Like a poltergeist.”
“Merry Christmas, everyone.” Sarah held up her cup of eggnog.
The rest of the room held their cups up too in cheers.
As a guide for the haunted tours, I’d seen a lot of ghosts, but never a ghost from Christmas past. I suppose I’d let nothing stand in the way of Christmas around Devil’s Moon. I hadn’t let the bam, humbug put a damper on the holiday spirits and now everything had worked out just fine.
The end.
Haunted Tour Guide Series:
These Haunts are Made for Walking, book 1
A Walk on the Haunted Side, book 2
Haunt the Haunt, Walk the Walk, book 3
Walk this Way, Haunt this Way, book 4
Take a Haunted Walk with Me, book 5
Hauntin’ After Midnight, book 6
Keep on Haunting, book 7
You’ll Never Haunt Alone, book 8
The Walk That Haunts Me, book 9
Haunted Girl Walking, book 10
Walk in My Haunted Shoes, book 11
I Want to Haunt You Home (short story)
About the Author
Rose Pressey is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.
When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.
Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.
Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and two sassy Chihuahuas.
Visit her online at:
http://www.rosepressey.com
http://www.facebook.com/rosepressey
http://www.twitter.com/rosepressey
Rose loves to hear from readers. You can email her at: [email protected]
