[Mystic Caravan Mystery 05.0] Freaky Places

by Amanda M. Lee

  Kade cocked a challenging eyebrow. “Boning?”

  “Hey, you said you liked hanging with us because it reminded you of high school. You can’t change your mind now.”

  “I guess not.”

  “Knock it off,” I warned, drifting toward the next booth. This one featured pottery, which I liked, but was impractical given how often we moved. Still, there were a few cute bottles with stoppers that caught my eye. They featured a variety of pagan symbols – the triple moon, a pentacle, the Eye of Horus, Hecate’s Wheel – and I knew that Nixie and Naida would love them.

  I purchased a set of three for each of them, made sure they were packed well, and then led Kade and Luke to the next booth. They seemed content to let me pick the direction, mostly because they were busy verbally sparring with one another over cars, kids, who had the better washboard abs and my general happiness. I tuned them out, happy to shop while they bonded – or whatever it was they were doing – and I was lost in thought when I came to a booth featuring some of the most godawful dolls I’d ever seen.

  One of them happened to be at eye level – a particularly nasty one with red hair and a clown costume – and I reared back to avoid accidentally touching the arm that jutted from the table. In the process, I smacked into Kade, and he had to catch me to keep me from falling.

  “Poet?” Kade was concerned.

  It took me several seconds to collect my breath.

  “Poet.” Kade was insistent. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He kept a firm grip on me even as my heart pounded and I glared at the doll.

  “What’s wrong with her, Luke?” Kade almost sounded desperate.

  “I’m not sure.” Luke was nonchalant when he circled in front of me and hunkered down so we were eye to eye. “What’s up, Poet? Are you swooning from Kade’s overbearing testosterone? Or is it that cologne he insists on wearing even though it smells like a used jockstrap?”

  “My cologne does not smell like a used jockstrap,” Kade argued.

  Luke made a tsking sound with his tongue. “Now is not the time to argue about cologne,” he chided. “Geez. Poet is clearly sick or something and all you can talk about is yourself. It’s a little sad.”

  Kade growled. “You’re a piece of work, man.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Luke waved off the dig and focused on me. “You’re white as a sheet, hon. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” I collected myself quickly. The reaction was ridiculous. I knew it, and yet I couldn’t stop the bolt of panic shooting through me. That panic stemmed from my childhood, an incident I’d long since thought past. Apparently I was wrong. “I just tripped over something, caught my toe on a rock. It’s nothing.”

  Kade peered around my shoulder so he could stare at my face. “That didn’t seem like nothing to me.”

  How could I explain my doll phobia without looking like an idiot? “Um … .”

  “Oh, I know what it is.” Luke focused on the doll, realization washing over his features.

  I focused all my mental energy on Luke, pushing forth instructions that I hoped would keep him from sharing my doll issues with Kade. Luke, as usual, didn’t listen to anything other than his instincts.

  “She’s afraid of dolls,” he volunteered, smirking. “She told me about it when we were drunk one time a few years ago. There was even some doll she had an incident with as a kid – one that apparently looked like her – and she took it out with bloody force to make sure it would stop looking at her.”

  “That’s not what happened,” I challenged, fury rising. “And I’m not afraid of dolls.”

  Kade licked his lips as he regarded me. “Hmm.”

  I ignored his tone. “I’m not afraid of dolls. I simply don’t like them.”

  “She’s afraid of them,” Luke repeated. “I once won a doll in one of those claw machines at a grocery store and gave it to her as a present. She burned it in the bonfire when she thought no one was looking.”

  I ran my tongue over my teeth, a dozen horrible paybacks for Luke’s loose tongue rolling through my head.

  “Is that true, Poet?” Kade didn’t bother to hide his amusement. “Are you afraid of dolls?”

  “I’m not afraid of them,” I gritted out, glaring at the clown doll that caught me off guard and caused this entire unnecessary conversation. “I just don’t see the purpose of them.”

  Kade moved from behind me and plucked the doll from the counter, lifting it so he could study it up close. It didn’t move – or laugh in my head – yet I was unbearably nervous having it that close to Kade’s face. Out of instinct, I reached out and snatched it away.

  Kade cocked an eyebrow. “Were you worried it was going to attack me or something?”

  “Of course not.” I managed to keep my voice even, but just barely. I moved the doll back to its previous spot, making sure to tuck in its arms and legs so they didn’t hang over the side. “I just think it’s creepy. It looks like a clown, for crying out loud. You’re the one afraid of clowns.”

  Kade made a face. “I’m not afraid of them. They’re unnatural.”

  “That’s how I feel about dolls.”

  “But … dolls are inanimate objects,” Kade argued. “Clowns are real … and completely ridiculous.”

  “He’s right,” Luke said.

  It took everything I had to keep from snapping at Luke. He caused this entire kerfuffle, after all. “Not all dolls are inanimate.”

  “Excuse me?” Kade’s eyebrows rose. “Are you saying dolls can come to life and hurt us?”

  I shrugged as I led him away from the doll, thankful to increase the distance between us and the booth. “I’m merely saying that dolls aren’t always helpless … or inanimate.”

  “Well, that sounds like a story in the making,” Kade teased. “I guess it’s good that we’re heading to the grocery store next, huh? You’ll have plenty of time to tell me the story.”

  He would think that. “I’m not telling you that story.”

  “Oh, you’re going to tell me.” Kade was so sure of himself I could do nothing but cast a derisive look over my shoulder. When I did, my eyes landed on the doll. We were a decent distance away now, yet I couldn’t mistake the fact that its leg was hanging over the edge again. I knew I arranged it so that wasn’t the case, and yet … it had changed position.

  “Poet!” Kade snapped his fingers in my face to get my attention, only stopping when I pinned him with an irritated look. “You’re totally going to tell me that doll story. I think I need to hear it.”

  “You’ll have to bribe me with something really good to get that story,” I shot back. “The dreamcatcher is nice, but I’m not spilling for that.”

  Kade’s eyes lit with mirth as he shot me a look that warmed me to the very tips of my toes. “I love a challenge. Prepare yourself to be wowed.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  5

  Five

  “So, were you stalked by a doll or haunted by one?”

  Kade refused to let go of the doll tidbit Luke dropped, so even when we hit the grocery store an hour later he was still harping on (and on and on and on) about it.

  “I think we should get some peanut butter,” I said, focusing on the display in front of me. “Just for us, I mean. We have plenty of communal peanut butter, but nothing in our trailer.”

  Kade tilted his head to the side, surprise flitting across his face. “Our trailer?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “I know, but … I didn’t realize we’d moved in together.”

  “Oh. Um … I didn’t mean that.” My cheeks burned with embarrassment. It was a different sort than I felt when he questioned me about the evil doll. “I just meant we usually eat in my trailer because we tend to spend the night there and … stop looking at me that way.”

  Kade’s smile was mischievous when he snagged the jar from my hand. “This is smooth peanut butter. If you expect me to move in, we’ll need crunchy, too. That’s my negotiating demand.”
>
  I stilled, dumbfounded. He was so calm I didn’t know what to make of it. “You want to move in with me?”

  “I believe you just insinuated that we already live together.”

  “I know, but … it’s a big step.”

  “Is it?” Kade’s demeanor was calm, as if he expected me to freak out so he had to be the mature one. It was a distinction that wasn’t lost on me, yet I couldn’t seem to stop my heart from racing all the same.

  “Well, I think it’s a big step.” I tried to match his tone, make him believe I wasn’t about to have some sort of meltdown. “We’ve been together only a few months now.”

  “I’m well aware of that. But we spend every night together.”

  “Yes, but we haven’t had a big fight yet,” I pointed out. “What happens if we have a big fight and you want to storm off? Are you going to sleep on the couch in my trailer? It’s not very big. We’ll be on top of each other during and after the fight.”

  “That’s a very good point.” Kade transferred the peanut butter to the cart, never moving his eyes from my face. “Or perhaps we won’t have a big fight.”

  He was sincere, earnest. It tugged at my heartstrings. “I think it’s sweet that you think that’s a possibility.” I lowered my voice. “I don’t believe it, though. People fight. We’re still in that heady ‘new relationship’ phase when all we want to do is jump each other.”

  Kade snorted, easing the tension. “I don’t believe we’ll never fight. I simply believe we won’t have a fight big enough to matter.”

  I swallowed hard. “We already had one big fight that managed to matter a great deal.”

  “We did. And got through it. Are you keeping any other big secrets from me? Are you hiding an uncle or sister I don’t know about?”

  It was such a ridiculous question I couldn’t stop from laughing. “No.”

  “So what are you really afraid of?”

  “Honestly?”

  Kade nodded.

  “The trailer is small. There’s only one bedroom. It’s fun now when we want to be on top of each other all the time – get your mind out of the gutter – but what happens when we occasionally want some quiet time?”

  Kade’s smile was so wide it threatened to swallow his entire face. “Well, I’ll try not to take it personally that you think you’ll need time away from me.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

  Kade rested his hands on my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “You’re so uptight sometimes. You need to learn to take a breath and a step back.”

  That was rich coming from him. “Oh, really?”

  Kade nodded. “Really. As for needing quiet time, I think you’re probably right. We’ll need a place to escape from each other if we expect to make it over the long haul … and I am interested in making it the duration, in case you’re interested.

  “Perhaps we can ask Max to secure us a bigger trailer,” he continued. “A three-bedroom trailer would give each of us a room to use as an office and one room for us to share as a bedroom. Also, it would be our trailer from the start rather than your trailer or my trailer.”

  It made sense, yet there was a minor stumbling block. “Do you think Max is simply going to buy us an expensive new trailer?”

  Kade nodded without hesitation.

  “You do?”

  “Of course.” Kade’s smile was back. “If there was ever a time to play the ‘You abandoned me when I was a kid and lied to me my whole life’ card, it’s now. He’ll do what we want simply to make nice.”

  My mouth dropped open. “That’s manipulative.”

  “So what? I plan to manipulate him right to his face.”

  “What, you’re going to walk up to him, say, ‘I want a fancy new trailer so I can shack up with my girlfriend and you’re going to give it to me because you want me to like you’ and call it a day?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Huh.” I didn’t know what to say. The manipulation didn’t seem so bad when he phrased it the way he did. “Do you think he’ll really do it?”

  Kade nodded. “I think he’s unlikely to say no given what he’s put us through.”

  “Well, okay then.” I took us both by surprise when I bobbed my head. “Let’s move in together.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that. I’m looking forward to it.” I reached for a jar of crunchy peanut butter and tossed it into the cart. “What other weird foods do you like? It will probably take Max a few weeks to get our new trailer – and we’ll have to look online when we get back so we can pick out exactly what we want – but there’s no reason we can’t get a head start on the cohabitating.”

  Kade snickered. “I love that you’re always willing to just go for it. It’s one of the things I like best about you.”

  “It’s one of the things I like best about myself, too. I was serious about the food, though.”

  “Okay.” I could tell Kade was racking his brain for something to gross me out. I wanted to keep him from going back to his doll questions, so I was happy to focus on the food. “How about pickled okra?”

  I smirked. “I happen to love pickled okra. It’s especially good when you dip it in tomato juice.”

  “You’re weird, and I like it.” Kade grinned as he leaned over to rest his forehead on mine. “Are you sure you don’t want to freak out about this? I was prepared for you to freak out for a bit so I’d have to talk you down later.”

  “I don’t want to freak out. I’m too excited to freak out.”

  “Well, then we’ll be excited together.” Kade pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “We’ll also celebrate later. For now, we have to finish our shopping.”

  “Good point.” I felt light, almost as if I was floating, as I pushed the cart along the aisle. Then something occurred to me. “Where did Luke go?”

  “He found the coffee shop. He’s buying, like, thirty pounds of stuff to bring back with us. He says we can’t spend time in Seattle without having a caffeine buzz party with their superior coffee blends.”

  “He’s not wrong.”

  “I tend to believe he’s always wrong.”

  “That’s because you believe you’re in competition with him for my attention. Just wait until he finds out we’re moving in together.”

  “And he’s not getting a key,” Kade muttered under his breath.

  I had news for him: If Luke didn’t have a key to wherever it was I rested my head at night he’d make both of us pay. I had a few weeks to ease Kade into that scenario, though.

  “Also, I’m not in competition with him,” Kade added. “We’re not interested in you for the same reasons.”

  “I can’t tell you what a relief that is,” I teased. “I can barely keep up with you. If I had to satisfy Luke, too, things would be all kinds of exhausting.”

  “Ha, ha.” Kade tapped the end of my nose. “You’re feeling pretty good about yourself, aren’t you?”

  I shrugged. “I’m feeling happy. If that results in a little teasing, you’ll simply have to deal with it.”

  “It’s funny, but I was just thinking the same thing.” Kade’s expression told me I was about to be unhappy because he was going to change the subject. “So, about this doll you don’t want to talk about, was it haunted by the soul of a dearly departed psychopath or was it evil all on its own?”

  “Ugh.” I slapped my hand to my forehead as Luke rounded the corner, his arms full of bags of coffee. “I thought you were going to let that go.”

  “I never said that. We simply got distracted.”

  Crap. We could either discuss our decision to move in together in front of Luke, thus risking a meltdown in public, or talk about the doll. That stupid, creepy, possessed doll.

  I heaved a sigh. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

  “I want to know why you’re afraid of dolls,” Kade replied without hesitation.

  “Why?”

  “Because I find it funny. Most girls covet the
ir dolls.”

  “I’m not most girls.”

  “Oh, I know that. I still want to know.”

  “Geez.” I rubbed my hand over my stomach before looking to Luke for help. He was so interested in reading the coffee bags he barely spared any attention for us. “Okay. You win.” I threw up my hands in defeat. “When I was a kid, my uncle got me a doll. He had it made to look like me. It had dark hair and blue eyes, and it wore a dress that was exactly like a dress I wore back then.”

  Kade struggled to understand. “So the doll creeped you out?”

  “From the moment I saw her.”

  “So what happened?” Luke asked, lifting his head. “I vaguely remember this story, but I was so drunk that night all I remember is when you tried to sing karaoke.”

  “You sing karaoke?” Kade was amused. “You’re just full of surprises today.”

  Great. Now I would have to explain that, too. “I was drunk. It seemed a good idea at the time.”

  “We’ve all been there.” Kade’s grin was charming. “Go back to the doll. What happened with her?”

  “It’s hard to explain.”

  “Try me.”

  “She … looked at me,” I forced out. “She watched what I did, where I moved, and listened to what I said. She laughed in my head. I could hear her.”

  Kade furrowed his brow. Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it. “So … what? She was possessed?”

  “I don’t know. I was a kid. I didn’t understand what was happening. I mean … I knew I could do things at that point, but I didn’t understand what was happening with the doll.”

  “Okay.” Kade stroked his hand up and down my arm. “I didn’t realize this was a serious story. I thought it was some crazy thing you did as a kid that would make us all laugh. You don’t have to talk about it.”

  “It’s a little late for that.” I rolled my neck until it cracked. I wasn’t angry, but I was frustrated. “I wanted to destroy the doll that night. She was one of those china dolls with a ceramic face. My uncle spent a great deal of money on her. He was always trying to spoil me; I think because I didn’t really like him. I always sensed he was up to no good.”