"You don't understand, Adeo. What I will do for you. Say the word Adeo and you will see. You will see how much I love you. With all my heart I love you. She can be gone, I can do that." The taste of his coppery blood in my mouth strangely excited me. He was wrapping his hand with his handkerchief and swearing at me.
"I am warning you, Lynette. Stay away from Elizabeth. You weary me, girl. Our time has come to an end. It is over between us, Lynette."
"What do you mean? You can't do this? We've been together too long--too many times, Adeo, for you to say that this means nothing to you. What about all the things you have promised me? I am yours and you are mine. Remember that? No, Adeo. Elizabeth will not stand in our way. I will not allow it."
Despite my desperate words, I felt a strange sort of calm come over me. I knew what I would do. I would do what he could not. The little girl would help me. I would summon her and she would do what I asked. Then Adeo would see reason. He would understand after it was all over. He was speaking to me now, but the words sounded strange as if he were speaking to me underwater. I laughed at the effect uncaring that I might offend Adeo.
“Mad girl!” He muttered as he reached for the door.
“Not so mad, I think. If I were truly mad, your wife would not have risen from her bed.”
And even though I didn't say it directly, something in my face--in my expression must have revealed to Adeo the truth of what I had done. I’d been the one to cause Elizabeth’s illness. He quite easily put two and two together. He grabbed me by the arms and began to shake me. Yes, I used the poison but I failed! As I always failed!
"It was you--you made Elizabeth sick! How? How did you do it?”
I laughed at his stupid question, "I am only doing what you will not, my love. You promised me that I would be by your side. That she would be gone. You promised. I did it for us."
Adeo’s hands fell away as he reached for the door again. He was going to leave me. Not merely the room--but me! I could feel my hold on him slipping. Those savage moments of stolen lovemaking were not enough anymore. And the truth of the matter was that Adeo still loved his wife—sterile, mad Elizabeth. All this became clear to me. Very clear.
"Say it then, coward. Say what it is you want to say and be done with it."
My hands gripped the table behind me as I felt the world began to collapse around me.
“We are through, Lynette. There will be no more of this and we will not speak of any of what you have done. You should leave the theater. I never want to see you again." He opened the door and slipped outside and closed the door behind him.
Suddenly Brady Hall came to life. There were people everywhere. People upstairs, downstairs all around and they were preparing for tonight's performance. Mrs. Monterro would take her place again in Ode to Rebecca. As her understudy, I was no longer needed and as Adeo’s mistress, I was cast aside.
I had been a complete fool to believe Adeo. He had never planned to leave Elizabeth--I could see that now-- but if he thought that I was going to lie down and let him have his way, that I would let him take what he wanted and not demand payment, then he was very mistaken. This would be the last time he felt my flesh beneath his, the last time I would declare my love to him or to any man, the last time we spoke in such an intimate fashion, but this was far from over.
I still had every intention of destroying Elizabeth; she had done her very best to destroy me by speaking negatively of me at every opportunity and I would certainly repay her the favor. Yes, indeed I would. Oh, but I had a new target now.
Not just Elizabeth. Adeo Monterro would die too. In those few seconds, as I paused at the door and waited to join the troop again, I knew exactly how I would accomplish such a thing. No, I wasn’t going to leave Brady Hall. I would pretend to make peace with Adeo when his mood had calmed a bit. I would assure him that all was well and that we needn’t fuss and fight. I would wait.
And I knew exactly how I would get my ultimate revenge.
I hated Elizabeth, to be sure, but I now hated Adeo Monterro much more. He would die in a suitable manner and not by my hand, but in a more elegant manner. He had no idea how clever I could be. No idea at all. I rubbed my tongue over the lingering blood on my lips and strangely enough, savored the taste of it. I never knew I had a taste for blood.
But I did.
Soon, I decided, I would have all the blood I wanted.
Chapter Six--Sierra
“Gulf Coast Paranormal,” I answered the phone without glancing at the caller ID. “This is Sierra speaking. May I help you?" I paused as I normally did as I flipped through the packing checklist that Joshua handed me. He wasn't joking around on this investigation but I thought we were bringing way too much equipment for Brady Hall. Did we really need to lug in two SLS machines? These were my thoughts as I waited for the caller to speak but there was no one there. Nothing but dead air. I glanced at the caller ID expecting to see a Robocall number, but Peter Broadus’s name blinked on the screen.
"Pete? Are you there?" I asked silently praying that he butt dialed me because I was not prepared to have a conversation with a former friend and paranormal investigator.
"I'm here. Sierra? Is that you? Are you busy? Can we talk a minute?"
I tossed the paperwork on my desk and plunked down in the chair. Joshua passed by the door and I waved for him to come in. I hit the speaker button on the phone and put the receiver on the cradle as quietly as possible. With my fingers to my lips, I waved at Joshua to close the door so we could guarantee our privacy. I wasn’t sure how this conversation was going to go down and with our brief but shady history; I wasn’t going to take any chances. I had no secrets anymore. None at all. To say my brief affair with Peter Broadus was the biggest mistake of my life was an understatement. He’d worked me hard for a while, telling me that Joshua had been cheating and like an idiot, I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.
Revenge sex was the worst kind of sex. And there hadn’t even been anything going on with Joshua. But we were past all that now. Joshua and I were good. We never talked about Pete and were both glad that he was no longer a part of our group. Very glad.
"What is it, Peter? We’re kind of busy here."
"Oh, sorry. I was hoping to speak to Midas. Is he around?" he asked, sounding slightly irritated at my unwillingness to have a conversation with him.
"He's not here, Pete. It's just me and Joshua. Whatever you need to say to Midas you can say to us.”
“It’s kind of private. He’s not answering his cell phone. Are you sure he’s not around?” Pete asked with his usual attitude.
“I’m sure. For the record, you didn't just abandon Midas on Crenshaw Road you know. You abandoned all of us, Peter. We all deserve an apology if that’s why you’re calling. What the hell were you thinking? You know what, it doesn’t even matter, what do you want? Whatever you have to say, I’m sure none of us are interested in hearing it.”
After a long pause, he said in a ragged voice, "I wasn't thinking that day, Sierra. I let fear take over. I can't say I'm sorry enough. To both of you. I know you don't want to hear that--you either Joshua. I know you’re both listening and I am completely sorry. If I could talk to you guys, you know, face to face, I think I could explain."
I was at a genuine loss here. Joshua shrugged, opened the office door and walked out, clearly disgusted with hearing Pete’s voice. They’d come to a kind of peace when Peter was working with us but I knew they’d never actually be friends. I can’t blame him Typical of Pete to want to pretend he’d done nothing wrong. How was I supposed to interpret that? I picked up the receiver. There were so many reasons to be angry at Peter; I just couldn't pick one. But something inside of me, call it my weak spot, kind of felt sorry for him. I’d known the guy for too long to completely give up on him. Joshua wouldn’t agree with me on that and Midas was certainly done with Pete.
D. O. N. E.
But I needed to hear him out. Whether anyone else wanted to or not.
“I’m
sorry about Jocelyn,” he said. “I’m sorry about her most of all. I should have been with you guys. I loved her, Sierra. As best as I could. I’m not great at loving people. As you know.”
“I’m not interested in hearing about your love life, Peter Broadus and if you haven’t completely pickled your brain you’ll keep off that subject when you do speak to Midas. It was his girlfriend Sara that you hooked up with, remember?”
“It’s not what you think, Sierra.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He sighed and said, “I remember everything. I wish I could forget--that we could all forget. Please, let Midas know that I called and that I need to talk with him.” Ah, there we have it. It’s all about Peter and his needs. “I’m better, Sierra. I’ve been clean for three months. I’m back in Mobile and I plan to stay. Please, just tell him?” he pleaded.
With a tap of my pen, I agreed and hung up the phone. I made a note for Midas and put it on his desk. I wasn’t going to advise him one way or another. If he allowed Peter back into his life that was up to him, but no way was he going to have another opportunity to leave me in the backwoods of Mississippi.
Fifteen minutes later we were loaded up and ready to roll to Brady Hall. It was a close case, only four blocks from the Gulf Coast Paranormal office. I liked that. Going out of town for a case couldn’t be avoided at times but knowing I could go home to Emily, Bozo and Sherman was the best feeling in the world. Which reminded me, I needed to pick up dog food in the morning. Those guys were eating me out of house and home. At least the dogs were friends now. Jocelyn’s big floppy white dog loved Emily, but he and Bozo had a few run-ins at the beginning of his stay with us. But now that everyone had their own toys and blankets and supper dishes, things were great. Mostly.
After a few trips to the van to collect our equipment, we settled in and I led the team around the property. Bonita decided not to come; she gave me the keys earlier. Helen was in one of her rare loving moods and ended our conversation with a hug. I told her what Bonita had said about us getting rid of the “ghost” that was haunting Brady Hall, but Helen assured me she had made no such promise.
“She’s genuinely upset. Really, upset. She’s desperate for answers.”
I genuinely liked Helen. She was strikingly beautiful and eloquent in speech; sometimes a bit standoffish. She had a wonderful vocabulary, but there were times she came off as if she were speaking down to you. She was a bit moody but personable. I was relieved that she and Bruce were on this investigation with us because Joshua and I alone wouldn't be enough to cover this property effectively. It wasn't as large as the Crescent Theater but it was nonetheless larger than a home. Here recently we hadn't had too many residential cases. Mostly we were called to landmarks or commercial construction sites.
After our walkthrough together, we began setting up cameras. We’d only gotten to the second camera when there was a knock on the front door. Joshua peeked out the window curiously and whispered, “It’s a guy.” I rolled my eyes.
Well, duh. I didn’t expect it to be a ghost. But then again.
“Can you see what he wants?” And with that, he went back to working on his cord issue. I dutifully accepted my role as our spokesperson. I walked to the door but only opened it a crack.
"Hi. May I help you?"
"Hi. I am looking for Bonita Hutchinson? I'm here for the open house. That’s tonight, isn’t it?” He unfurled the brochure he had in his hand.
Oh, shoot. Were these kinds of interruptions going to happen all night?
"I am so sorry about that. The open house had to be postponed for a few days. We’re working on it, I mean, taking care of a few things first. We want the place to be perfect. Maybe you should call Mrs. Hutchinson and ask her about rescheduling. Is her number on that brochure?” I smiled as I slipped outside and attempted to close the door behind me. I wasn't quick enough because a red beam of light hit the stranger on the shoulder and he glanced up to identify the source of the light.
"Is that a laser? What’s going on in there? Hold on a second. I thought I recognized your face. You’re what’s her name...the ghost hunter. Sierra, right? Are you investigating Brady Hall?" He laughed a little and I shrugged unsure what to say. It had always been our policy to keep investigations under wraps and not share them with the public at large and here was this guy catching us red-handed setting up cameras.
"My name is Sierra, but I can’t give you much more information than that. I can tell Bonita that you came by. What is your name, sir?”
"I get it. Mum’s the word. My name is Evan Madison. I’m an investigator too. I had no idea that this place might be haunted and just for the record, that doesn’t turn me off as a buyer. In fact, I kind of like the idea of a place having a back story. You can’t give me any clues at all, Sierra?” Evan swung his bangs to the side, he wore his hair kind of long, at least his bangs were long as if he’d just stepped out of the 1990s.
"No, I can’t but I will tell Bonita that you came by. Have a nice evening, Evan.” I said as he went back down the steps and hurried down the sidewalk. As I walked back into the house, I looked to see what kind of vehicle he was driving. A green luxury vehicle, maybe a Benz? It was an antique, that was for sure. I couldn’t be sure. That’s all we needed. Some rich fanboy hanging out mucking up the investigation. So much for anonymity.
I headed back inside and explained to the team what was up. "Let's make sure we have all of the blinds closed and ...hey, who is that?" I pointed to the end of the hallway.
Everyone's attention turned to the empty doorway where I was staring. I could've sworn I saw someone there but only for the briefest of seconds. Was it possible that Evan Madison had come with a friend? Did his friend slip inside or was I seeing something else?
"Did anyone else see that?" Everyone silently stared down the dark hallway.
Bruce spoke first. “I haven’t seen anything. What did it look like?”
“About five feet. Dark. No facial features and no arms or legs. It sailed from right to left. It didn’t make any noise, it just kind of slid. Really fast.” I laughed at my own description. Man, I really had seen something. I know I did. Was it a trick of the light? Or something else?
Bruce and Joshua were immediately headed down the hallway. There were no openings to come in or out of. No open doors or windows. Nothing that could have allowed for light or shadow to move around in such a way as to project a human figure. After another few minutes of posing Helen in the hallway and trying to recreate the image, I called it.
“Let’s chalk that up to personal experience and hope we caught it on camera.”
We set up our monitoring station in the kitchen because it was relatively quiet and out of the way. As far as we knew there wasn’t any activity happening in the kitchen. “I guess we should start work by focusing on the mirror and the carpet where Bonita had her accident."
"I'll keep an eye on the cameras," Helen offered which was slightly different than the original plan but I didn't argue with her.
"Okay. So let's do this." Joshua turned the lights out in the kitchen as we headed out. It was the last light on in the house. The place was hidden in complete darkness and the feelings that I got yesterday of the strange yet elusive presence were completely gone. It was as if I had imagined the whole thing. Even when we were up on the second floor running a cord to that camera earlier, it felt eerily quiet. Like whatever had been there had actually left the building. Could this thing be moving up and down the block? There was no backyard here but there were buildings on either side, both of which were vacant so that was definitely a possibility. Entities, energies, and ghosts all liked empty spaces. Mostly, they wanted to be left alone but if you came into their space and they were strong enough, they would let you know about it. If that was the case, if this thing was moving, capturing evidence could prove to be a challenge. But I’d seen that shadow. That I had seen with my own two eyes and I hadn’t felt a thing!
"We’ll have to turn
the lamp on if we want to replicate the original lighting situation," Joshua suggested.
“Right, Joshua. Britney said the only light on was the lamp over there. So let's try to re-create the illusion, or whatever this was, by turning that light on and leaving everything else off. She might be mistaken though. If we aren’t successful with the lamp let’s try to debunk it with the overhead light.” I shivered as if a rabbit ran over my grave.
"From the angle of the picture, I think she stood over there. Britney was not in the picture and the face was kind of at an angle. Would you guys agree?" Joshua asked as he moved gingerly across the room avoiding the carpet. I should’ve never told those guys that Bonita had an accident on the rug. Clearly, she had it cleaned. My husband was so weird about that sort of thing. You would think after having a daughter, he would be less squeamish about bodily fluids but that wasn't true at all.
“Why don't you snap a few pictures with your phone, Sierra? That's what she was using, an iPhone, right? I’ll stand by the window. If it was a true reflection, that is about where the person would have been standing. Bruce, why don’t you use your camera too?”
We snapped and reviewed, snapped and reviewed but we couldn’t recreate the image. No matter what kind of lighting, the angle was off and Joshua’s face wasn’t anything but handsome. Not skeletal at all. I sometimes forget how attractive he was and how much I loved him. Yeah, I forgot that a lot.
I wasn’t giving up on this yet. “Let's try something else. Why don't you stand on the porch, Joshua and I will take a few more shots. Maybe Britney wasn't completely honest or she didn’t notice there was someone pranking her. Maybe there was someone standing outside on the porch. If the curtains were open then it's certainly possible."
"They’d have to be standing on the porch wearing a skeleton mask because I can’t imagine how else you would recreate that face," Bruce said unconvinced of my proposal. “That’s no trick of the light. I think we’re seeing a genuine apparition.”
The Spirits of Brady Hall Page 4
