Always Dead (Welcome To Dead House Book 2)

by M. L. Bullock

  Chloe and I walked home in silence.

  8

  Tamara

  “Boy, the camera really does put ten pounds on a person, doesn’t it?” The voice over my shoulder was none other than Joey’s. He finally decided to show up, and naturally, he had to have a snarky comment when it came to my appearance.

  “I’m not listening to you and your negativity. I look just fine. The camera is a little off, but Chloe did her best, and I’m grateful for her help. You should have been there smarty-pants. You could have seen everything firsthand. Honestly, isn’t it a bit shameful you are a ghost who’s afraid of other ghosts? What does that do for your rep in the spirit world?”

  My friend narrowed his eyes. “Rep? What decade is this again? Of course, I’m afraid of ghosts. We have too many crazy-ass spirits hanging around the Dead House. I blame that on Chloe and you. Any clues on this weird lady or do I need to put a pillow in the dryer and just spend the rest of my existence hiding there?”

  “Her name is Alice, and she’s looking for Andrew. But I’m sure you guessed that.” I smiled at his suggestion of sleeping in the dryer. Eventually, I would have to break down and fix a room up for him. I don’t know why I was so fussy about it. Joey pretty much had free reign over the house now, but it was never that simple with my ghostly friend. Joey wanted his room freshly painted. He wanted shag carpet, tulip lights, and a king-size bed. God only knew for what reason. The list of his wants was long, and right now he wasn’t getting any of it. If he wanted to sleep in the dryer, that was fine by me.

  “Your ghostly tormentor is not the target of my investigation, but she keeps coming through. You know what they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. She’s very squeaky, so Chloe and I will certainly have to deal with this woman before we can move on to the actual case.”

  Joey gasped beside me. “You have a real paranormal investigation? A real client? What? You should have told me.” He clapped his hands joyfully. He was always my biggest fan, no matter what I did.

  “Calm down. It’s not a paranormal case, per se. I’m helping Deputy Kevin out with a cold case.”

  “Ugh. Can’t the guy do his own work?”

  I ignored his snide remark and filled him in on the details. “A young man died, and he asked me to look into it. No big deal. The only thing is, I can’t seem to talk to him. When I try, I only connect with this Alice person who’s screaming about Andrew.”

  Joey shivered, and it was a funny sight because he kind of fluttered a little. I shut down the computer and rose from the chair to stretch my back. It had a little ache in it. Sometimes it did that if I sat too long.

  “You missed it, Joey. The morning after my experience I did EVP EMF work, but it was dead, pardon the phrase. Not so much as a peep.”

  He paced the floor, pondering what it could mean. Of course, neither of us knew the answer. I’d have to dive in a little deeper, try to do more work and see if I got lucky. That’s really what paranormal research was all about. Getting lucky with evidence and getting lucky with connecting with the dead in a real and helpful way. It would be easy for a dead person to misinterpret our intentions.

  That was something to consider.

  In an attempt to divert his worry, I told him about our success with the new social media platform. “Check it out,” I said as I powered up the computer. “Periscope is where it’s at. People love my investigative videos. Especially the one from the Crystal Springs Cemetery. We have over a hundred followers already, and people want to see more. I’m thinking about making some field trips, me and Chloe, that is, to check out a few of the local hotspots. Too bad you can’t come with us.”

  Joey peered closer at the computer screen and watched the video. As it faded to black I could see his handsome face in the reflection of the screen. He wasn’t totally luminous like normal, but he was very physical-looking, almost lifelike.

  “Yes! I knew it! You’ll have to do more Periscope videos. Give the people what they want, and they’ll love you. I want to tag along but through the videos, of course. I’m more of a homebody than you are as of late.” Meaning he currently didn’t have the power to leave the Ridaught Plantation if I decided to investigate off-site unless it was to pop next door to the neighbor’s place. I hadn’t mentioned to him the road we were investigating was out in the back of the house. I couldn’t say why.

  Joey was always very secretive about his abilities. I sometimes got the feeling he didn’t trust me enough to tell me the whole truth. If he did trust me, he would tell me much more than I knew. For example, I didn’t even know how old Joey was or his actual birthdate. I did ask questions without appearing to be too direct. I posed questions like, “What’s your sign? I bet you are a Libra.” But he never fell for them. He’d mock me with some smartass answer or distract me by asking me a question.

  Other times I didn’t think he was being coy at all. I believed he couldn’t remember. At times he couldn’t remember who he was or where he came from — or where he was supposed to be. When I witnessed moments like that, I felt very sorry for him.

  Very sorry indeed.

  Those moments never lasted. He always came back to his exuberant self, full of life. A life he could not lead because the truth of the matter was Joey is dead. There was nothing I could do to change that. The only thing I could do would be to convince him to move on, but he never wanted to talk about that. I couldn’t and wouldn’t force him to do it. How did I know what was waiting in the beyond? I couldn’t comfort my friend and tell him I didn’t know. I was too much of a friend to coerce him into leaving if he wanted to stay.

  The truth of the matter was I loved Joey, and he really was my best friend. Joey followed me into the living room, and we sat on the couch together as I flicked on the television. It was still early in the evening, but there should be something good on. I needed to write my book, but I couldn’t just ignore him. Joey had been absent a lot lately, and he had missed a few episodes of the new show called Haunted in the Hereafter. It was more like a soap opera/paranormal documentary/romance type of thing than an actual paranormal show. I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept and had not really come up with an opinion about it. I wanted to like it, but it was weird.

  Living people married to the dead? Cheating with the dead person? It was actually kind of gross.

  Knowing Joey, he would love it. He usually loved weird shows but nothing as weird as this, so far. “What have you been doing with yourself? I hope you’re not harassing Linda. Is that why you’ve been absent so often?” It made sense he would. Linda was next door, and he took exceptional joy at tormenting the wannabe psychic.

  “Can’t right now. I’m saving up my energy.” Joey tucked his legs up next to him, completely ignoring the fact they were mostly missing. He always forgot to materialize his legs. I said nothing about it because it was just the two of us. “Besides, Linda is no fun anymore. She barely notices anything I do and spends her days on the phone gossiping about her husband. She’s convinced he’s having an affair. He’s not, by the way. This show is ridiculous. Totally made up.”

  “I agree,” I said as I changed the channel.

  “I don’t think Robert cares for Linda that much. They are about to move anyway, so I’m sure you’ll have new neighbors soon.”

  “The neighbors are moving? Why? Did you do something? What did you do? Tell me everything,” I said as I put the television on mute and turned toward Joey. I could tell by the excitement on his face he was dying to give me the skinny. I wasn’t prepared for the drama that was going on right next door.

  “You didn’t hear this from me,” Joey said as he put his hand on his chest and shook his head. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “But Robert has a little bit of a problem. Actually, it’s a big problem.” Joey rubbed his fingers together to indicate money, but I wasn’t sure where he was going with this. I started guessing.

  “He steals money? He needs money? He’s bad with money? I�
�m running out of answers! What? Just tell me?” I threw the remote at Joey playfully, and it passed right through him.

  He frowned and said, “Ow. That was uncalled for. You are the worst at playing charades, aren’t you?” He waved his fingers again, rubbing them together. “He’s spending all their money. He’s maxed out all of the credit cards, taken out three mortgages on the house, and he’s up to his eyeballs in debt with his business. Robert or Robbie, as she calls him, is a bit of a gambler.” Joey rolled his eyes and pursed his lips as he put his finger to the corner of his mouth thoughtfully. It was a silly pose, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Seriously? They seem so...so...”

  “You could dream up a million words and that would literally not be the right word because they are all about the pretense. You know what’s really funny,” Joey whispered as he leaned toward me. I pretended his cold breath didn’t leave me shivering. “She thinks he’s hot. Can you believe that? Some people’s taste.”

  I laughed at his description of Linda, our gossipy neighbor’s, thought process. “They are husband and wife, and you’re supposed to be attracted to your mate, aren’t you?” I said as I drew the blanket up around my feet and legs. Our favorite show was on, but it was a rerun. I didn’t want to reach through Joey’s body to get the remote I’d thrown at him.

  “Oh, precious. You know nothing. Absolutely nothing. Let me tell you all about it.”

  Apparently, Linda and Robert had been married back in the 1980s, but they got a divorce in the 1990s, but then they started living together and have continued to do so ever since. It was scandalous really because he’s the deacon at the Third Baptist Church. Nobody is the wiser. Linda likes “living in sin.” Joey used air quotes around that phrase. He did love his air quotes.

  “How could you possibly know that? Did she tell you? Have you been revealing yourself to Linda?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I felt a little like Joey was cheating on me, which was proof I put too much importance on this relationship. Chloe was right. I am a weirdo.

  He pulled his legs up tighter and shrugged his shoulders. “I just hear things, and I know things. It’s not that big of a deal. Don’t make it weird, Tamara. You know how it is. When you’re with someone long enough, you pick up on things about them they would rather you didn’t know.” I felt my face flush at his words. Was he suggesting he...

  No. I couldn’t believe that. He would never spy on me like that.

  He kept on rolling with the information. “She thinks it’s all kind of thrilling, but Robert is a mess, girl. A big old mess. Here’s another truth. Robert doesn’t want to re-marry her. If he did that, Linda would know his secret—that he is completely underwater financially. Currently, Linda can’t poke her nose into his business because she isn’t his legal wife, and as long as he tells her what she wants to hear and her credit card works properly, he’ll get away with it, but he’s getting really desperate. I mean, really desperate. Like, you could see him on 48 Hours desperate.”

  “Get out of here. No way is Robert dangerous. I mean, he is so diminutive.”

  Joey rolled his narrow green eyes. Hey, his eyes were green!

  “Right, because short people don’t kill anyone. Do you hear yourself?”

  I didn’t know what to say. That was rather naïve of me to think. Killers came in all sizes and shapes. They did not walk around with signs on them that read, “I’m a bad guy.”

  I chewed my lip as I pondered this unexpected bit of information.

  “Do you think she’s in danger, Joey? Should I tell Kevin?” I clutched the blanket tighter and stared at my luminous friend. I was getting colder by the second. Clearly my presence was making him stronger. It was a quiet thing he did that we never really talked about. He borrowed my energy a lot, and sometimes it left me really tired, other times plum sick, but I never complained. He wasn’t mean about it, and he couldn’t really help it. I’d have to go to bed soon, though, if he didn’t stop siphoning away my natural energy.

  As if he overheard my thoughts, he began to dim, and he moved away a little bit on the couch. “I’ll keep an eye on those two. I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Robert would rather run away from the problem than face it head-on. He’s the kind of guy who likes pretending everything is fine until he finds himself buried in concrete.” I shuddered at his words and quickly changed the subject. Joey complained about the re-runs, but we watched another episode.

  “Sorry, Joey. There’s only one Dead Files, and those guys are working as fast as they can to bring you good investigations. What about Ghost Mine? You liked that one, didn’t you?”

  “Meh. I could take it or leave it. You know what? You should do your own paranormal show, Tamara. We could call it Stripper Supernatural!”

  “What?”

  He jumped up and down and squealed, completely ignoring my protest. “Oh, my God! This is the best idea I have ever had! You investigate strip clubs. I’m sure those places are haunted. Just think about all the energy in those places. You need to write this stuff down.” Joey began to pace the floor, waving his hands as he spewed out his unwanted brainstorming session.

  “We could use the Periscope channel to build a fan base! And you could do a calendar! Like a Tamara shot a month! This is a perfect idea because you’re beautiful and you’re spooky. That’s like catnip to paranormal people.”

  “You think I’m beautiful?” I asked in a surprised voice. He’d never complimented me like that before.

  “I’m dead, Tamara, but yeah. I think you’re beautiful.”

  His excited demeanor faded quickly, as did his luminosity. I wrapped the throw blanket around me tightly. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Joey. I think you’re pretty cute too.”

  His eyes didn’t meet mine, and I got the feeling he was embarrassed by this turn of conversation. At least I’d gotten his mind off the Stripper Supernatural show idea. That was never going to happen.

  “Do you ever think about what would have happened?” I asked quietly as I watched him glide toward me. “If we could have met in life? Would we have been friends?”

  He sat on the couch again.

  “What would have happened when? I can’t believe you don’t like my idea, Tamara. I think you should think about it. You’re being really short-sighted. So you stripped a little; it’s not a big deal.”

  “I wasn’t a stripper. I was a burlesque performer. There is a big difference.”

  “Did you take your clothes off?” he asked as he pursed his lips disapprovingly.

  “Yes, but it was all tastefully done.”

  “Strip-per.”

  “No. I didn’t flaunt my body. The goal was to be seductive and playful, not pornographic. I didn’t lie on the floor or do the hoochie-coochie.”

  “You say tomato, I say potato.”

  I smiled at his idiotic attempt at a comparison between the two very different performance types. “I was a burlesque performer, not a stripper.”

  “Fine. You were a snobby stripper. Denial for the win!”

  “Have you ever wondered if we would have been friends in real life? Or would we have just ignored one another?” I asked hopefully. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was asking, but I was definitely wondering what he thought.

  “Oh, that. Well, I would have been a little older than you, but sure, we would have been friends.”

  He was stealing all the warmth, but I was careful not to fuss at him about it. “In fact, I would have swept you off your feet, Tamara.” His voice dropped, and he spoke quietly, with mock seriousness. “We would have gotten married and had 2.5 children.”

  “Joey, give me a break.”

  “We would have bought a small house on the Cape of somewhere, adopted an Irish setter named Roxie, and you would have bought me a motorcycle for my birthday because I always wanted one.”

  Just knowing Joey would never have any of these things broke my heart, but he was definitely having me on. “Really, Joey? I
would have never bought you a motorcycle, and I’m pretty sure I would not have made you happy. Not in the slightest.”

  “You are right. I would have cheated on you with the handyman.” He smiled his silly smile, and all the seriousness of the moment vanished.

  “That I believe.”

  “Picking on you is too easy. Uh-oh. Your crush is here. He’s walking up the steps now. Later.” Joey’s sad smile lingered a bit after the rest of him, like the Cheshire Cat, and then he was gone.

  I went to answer the doorbell and pushed my 2.5 children out of my mind. My biological clock was ticking, and I didn’t know how I felt about having kids of my own.

  Why was I romanticizing motherhood?

  Some questions shouldn’t be asked or answered. I politely waited for the doorbell to ring and opened the door with a friendly smile. In that second, I knew the truth...Kevin Patrick was my future.

  Where the hell did that come from? Get it together, Tamara.

  “Hey, Kevin. Nice to see you.”

  “Nice to see you too. Sorry to drop in without calling, but I was in the neighborhood, and I had this six-pack...”

  “Come on inside. I could use a cold one.”

  9

  Chloe

  Tamara had company downstairs, and Joey had made himself scarce, which was a rarity. I briefly wondered what he thought about Tamara’s budding romance with the cop. He must not have any objections because he wasn’t acting out, flouncing up and down the hall or sighing dramatically. I opened my bedroom door and whispered his name a few times, but he didn’t appear. He told me it bothered him when I treated him like a genie in a lamp.

  “I am not Beetlejuice, Chloe. You can’t summon me by saying my name a bunch of times. Igmo. All you’ll do is annoy me, and trust me, you don’t want that.”

  Of course, then I made fun of him for saying the word “igmo” and his ability to get annoyed so easily. “Does it bother you I can manipulate you so easily?”