The walls ceased to tremble. The light bulb steadied. The sound of Ray’s screams faded out as if sucked into a black hole. The heavy shroud of darkness that plagued the house lifted, fleeing toward the sky as though chased by the light of a rising sun.
All went silent. All went still.
For a moment that seemed like an eternity, Jackie absorbed the emptiness. The loss of spirits. The house was no longer home to them, the bond broken. Only Sally remained, but her shackles were released. Mercy no longer held her prisoner.
Relief knocked at the door of her heart, but Jackie refused to answer. Instead, she turned around and fell to the floor beside Alex. He lay still, not breathing. Strands of his hair splayed over his forehead, his eyes closed as though in sleep.
If only.
Grace was already on top of him, performing CPR. She forced his mouth open and breathed air into his lungs, then sat back to pump his chest with her hands. “C’mon, Alex. Come back to me.”
Ian knelt beside her, all color drained from his face. “You can’t die on me, Alex. Wake up.”
Jackie reached into her pocket for her rosary, tears spilling from her eyes. Please God, she prayed silently. Please don’t take him.
She reached for one of Alex’s lifeless hands and squeezed it tight, then closed her eyes and began to pray aloud in a hurried whisper. She fell back on the old traditions of her childhood, on the faith that had never left her. “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…”
Grace forced more air into Alex’s lungs and resumed chest compressions.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven.”
Ian met eyes with Grace and saw the determination she felt. She wasn’t going to give up.
Jackie’s voice faltered as pain swallowed her heart. She continued to pray. “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us.”
“Damnit, Alex.” Grace’s vision blurred with desperate tears as she pinched his nose and blew more air into his lungs, knowing the clock was ticking. The longer he didn’t breathe the more likely it was that he never would again.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. Amen.” Jackie crossed herself and lifted Alex’s hand to her lips, pressing a shaky kiss to his knuckles.
Grace sat back and wiped away the sweat on her forehead, out of breath and heartbroken. For a long, haunted moment, she believed he was gone. She had failed to save him.
Jackie held Alex’s hand to her face, murmuring her love for him over and over again. She prayed he could hear it. The words that had been too hard to say before were now so clear it stunned her. How could she have been so blind?
And now, it was too late.
Suddenly, Alex’s eyes flew open and he sucked in a huge gulp of air, his body shuddering with it. His head fell back as he struggled to breathe, delirious from the lack of oxygen.
Ian’s mouth twisted in a hard grin. “Good, buddy. Keep breathing.”
Grace let out a frantic laugh. She checked his heart rate and the dilation of his pupils. “Relax. You just came back from the dead.”
“What?” Alex managed, blinking as he tried to focus his vision on the three faces peering down at him. He caught Jackie’s eyes and smiled weakly. “Hey, beautiful.”
An unsteady laugh fluttered from her lips, tears staining her cheeks. “Thank God.”
He continued to smile and looked at Ian. “Dude, did that shadow thing attack me?”
Ian nodded, still in shock. “I’m sure we caught the whole thing on camera.”
“Sweet.” Alex closed his eyes, focusing on the glorious beating of his own heart. “Now I can add ‘ghost attack survivor’ to my resume.”
Grace rolled her eyes then looked over her shoulder apprehensively. “I don’t know what the hell happened to you, but it scared the crap out of us.”
Jackie continued to hold his hand tightly, unwilling to let go. “The creature attacked him. I knew it was dangerous, but I had no idea just how powerful it had become.”
“Is it gone now?” Grace asked.
Jackie nodded. “The copper spell worked, though as a precaution we should still remove the bones. Ray, the creature, and the other spirits have all fled.”
“And Sally?”
“She’s still here, but she’s free. Her father will be able to find her now.”
Ian got to his feet, holding out his hand to help Grace stand. “Good. I’d say she saved your life, Doc.”
Grace managed a weak smile, still in disbelief. “Yeah. She did.”
“When Ray saw you, he mistook you for Mercy,” Jackie explained. “Even though he knows she’s as dead as he is, his rage got the better of him and he tried to hurt you.” She helped Alex up, his arm winding around her shoulders. “Sally did what she could to protect you.”
“Well, I’m lucky she did.” Grace chewed on her lower lip, realizing it could have been her lying on the floor of the basement instead of Alex.
Ian pulled her close and nodded to the others. “Let’s get the hell out of this basement. For good this time.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“I’d say this was a good investigation.”
Ian shot Alex a humored look. “You almost died.”
“So?” Alex crunched on a handful of potato chips, cheerful despite the near brush with death. He pointed a salty finger at the computer screen. “Look at me. I’m like James Bond facing off against Goldfinger. Only instead of a gun, I had a Spirit Box.”
“Yeah, and you got your ass kicked.”
“Bond always gets back up. So does Alex Gallagher.”
“You’re just lucky there was a doctor in the house.”
Alex shrugged, though he glanced over his shoulder to where Grace was standing on the back porch with Jackie. The outdoor light glowed orange over their faces as they laughed about something he couldn’t hear. Beyond them, the harbor lay still and quiet in the dead of night.
“I had help from both sides. Practical and spiritual.”
Ian followed his gaze, noting the way Jackie slipped her arm around Grace’s waist. Despite a million reasons not to be friends, they had found a way. Go figure. “What are we going to do with them?”
“The girls?” Alex asked, turning to his friend.
Ian nodded, tearing his eyes from Grace and back to the computer screen. “Never mind.”
“No, really. What did you mean?”
“Nothing.” Ian replayed the footage they had captured that night, though his eyes glazed over as he stared at the screen. He was too distracted to watch it.
Alex nudged him with a pointy elbow. “I get it, dude. You care about her. What’s wrong with that?”
Ian said nothing as he rubbed his face with his hands. He decided he wasn’t ready yet to have that conversation. “Hand me those headphones. I want to listen to the audio again.”
Alex obliged him, then got to his feet and stretched his arms over his head. “Damn. Nearly dying really zaps your energy.”
Ian slipped the headphones over his ears. “You probably just faked it so you could get Jackie to admit she loves you.”
Alex patted his friend on the shoulder. “Worked like a charm, didn’t it?”
He wandered out to the back porch, leaving Ian to brood. The audio should have served as a viable distraction, except hearing Grace’s voice and seeing her face on the screen only made things worse.
There was a truth he couldn’t escape. A reality that wouldn’t let him go.
Now that the investigation was over and the ghosts were gone, what was left keeping them together?
Where would they go from here now that there was nothing left to accomplish? No goal left to reach? He supposed she would probably go back to Chicago, free of the house for good. And he would head off to the next haunted location in search of the paranormal.
Would their paths have ever crossed if i
t hadn’t been for the Sparrow House? He knew the answer was no. They were two very different people from two opposing walks of life. She had her science and he had his ghosts. Sure, they’d found a sliver of common ground over the last few weeks. But was it enough to bridge the gap that divided them?
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, haunted by what he knew was coming.
He had to either forgo his pride and ask her to be with him, or let her go. He had no other option.
* * *
Jackie shifted away from Grace as Alex stepped onto the porch.
“Hey, ladies.” Alex grinned, pleased when Jackie went immediately into his arms.
She breathed in the scent of his soap, fresh from the shower he had taken only an hour before. The shower they had taken together. Her head fell back as she trailed her lips along his jawline. “Hi.”
He held her closer, nuzzling her nose with his own. “I should put my life in danger more often.”
Jackie poked him in the ribs, laughing at his surprised grunt. “You shouldn’t tempt fate. Next time you may not be so lucky.”
“Well, I’m already the luckiest guy in the world, Jackie. I have you.”
She blushed and rose on her toes to kiss him. “My heart, darling. You have my heart.”
Grace tried to ignore their blatant affection. She wanted to be happy for them, and was, but jealousy ate away at her. They seemed to have it all figured out, while she was lost in nothing but a mess. It was downright maddening. “So, did the camera catch anything good from tonight?”
Alex pulled away from Jackie and faced Grace. “Yeah. You can see the white mist that protected you and the shadow that hit me. It’s pretty intense, we’ve never seen anything like it. At least not so interactive. I think we’ve made ghost hunting history in this house.”
Jackie smiled up at him. “The Sparrow House is finally at peace. There’s only one thing left to do.”
“Sally,” Grace murmured, sadness passing over her face. “What can we do to help her?”
“Her father will come back. It could be hours from now, or days, or years. I don’t know. When he does, she’ll be able to move on.” Jackie reached over to take Grace’s hand in her own, sympathy in her eyes. “You’ll miss her.”
Grace laughed, trying to brush off the truth behind the statement. “How do you miss a ghost? If anything, it’ll be nice to finally get back to my old life.”
“Will it?” Jackie mused, releasing her friend’s hand with a squeeze. She looked up at Alex. “I’m feeling rather tired. Let’s go back to the hotel.”
“You guys can stay here if you want, I don’t mind.” Grace cut in, attempting a smile. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she wanted to avoid being alone with Ian. “It’s already past midnight, no reason to leave.”
“Thanks, Grace. We will.” Alex wrapped his arm over Jackie’s shoulders and led her inside. He shot Grace a curious look. “You coming?”
She shook her head, arms crossed protectively. “No. I need a bit more fresh air. You guys go.”
He nodded and they disappeared inside, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She sat down on the top step of the porch and folded her arms over her legs. Around her, the night came alive.
Crickets sang as barn owls swooped in for prey and field mice scurried away in fear. The moon hung low and heavy in the hazy night sky while a blanket of fog rolled in from the sea.
A chilly breeze blew by her. She bundled herself tighter in her coat, her eyes drifting toward the lonely dock. She could barely see it in the moonlight, but its outline was apparent over the smooth water.
Her thoughts filled with Mercy and she could almost see the young woman standing on the edge of the wooden planks, arms filled with a bag of bricks tethered to her waist.
Jackie’s description of what had befallen the woman disturbed her. She’d explained that when a person commits suicide, their spirit remains caught between the worlds of the living and the dead. Which meant, of course, that Mercy was still out there somewhere. While her father had been forced to move on, Mercy would be unable to.
Grace wondered whether the young woman deserved such a horrific fate. She had been a tortured, miserable, rightfully hate-filled woman in life. In death, she was even more so. Her jealousy over Sally’s loving father drove her to stand between their reunion. Her malice against her own father had created a monster that wreaked havoc on the living and had nearly killed Alex.
Where Ray was filled with nothing but sin, Mercy was driven by a very human vengeance and jealousy. She had done everything she could to terrorize Grace and the others, leading them to believe her actions were her father’s. In reality, Mercy was behind it all. The shadow figures, the threatening EVPs, the disembodied footsteps, the creature. And, worst of all, the hands that attempted to strangle Grace after the séance. For that, Grace found herself unsympathetic to Mercy’s fate.
Jackie said she believed Mercy’s goal had been to lure in the ghost hunters to successfully banish the spirits from the house, thus breaking the bond that tied her to her father for good.
In the end, Mercy got her wish. But where was she now?
Grace shivered at the thought, disturbed. She started to wonder over her own role, and Nellie’s as well, in Mercy’s plan, but was distracted as she heard the door open behind her.
“Come inside, Doc.”
Despite everything, her heart warmed at the sound of Ian’s voice. She willed herself not to give in. Slipping on a sarcastic smile, she rose to her feet and went to him. “You miss me already?”
His lips spread in a wry smile as she passed him through the doorway. “Like I’d tell you if I did.”
She laughed. “Heaven forbid you say how you feel, macho man.”
With her back to him, she didn’t catch the pain that flashed in his eyes or the words he whispered soundlessly under his breath.
If she had, it would have floored her.
* * *
She awoke to the sound of voices. They wafted in from the entryway, low and incoherent mumbles. At first, she thought it was Ian and Grace speaking.
Jackie opened her eyes and saw Alex fast asleep beside her. His face was buried in his pillow and he was lightly snoring. A smile teased her lips as she watched him, soft morning light bringing out the faint dusting of freckles on his nose. Her heart did one, slow tumble, and relished in the knowledge that it loved.
The voices drifted in again, causing her to sit up and face the entryway. She strained to listen, unable to discern what was being said. She was confident it wasn’t Ian and Grace when she heard the soft, lilting voice of a child.
Sally.
Jackie pushed aside the blankets and got to her feet, tiptoeing lightly over the wood floor toward the entryway. She heard Alex rouse behind her but continued in her pursuit of the voices.
Her lips spread in a warm smile as she caught a glimpse of the staircase, and the man and child standing beside it. He knelt before the small girl and held her in his arms.
Outside, a light rain fell from the heavens.
Jackie marveled at the sight of father and daughter reuniting at last and her eyes took in the high walls of the entry. They were still covered with Mr. Lockwood’s desperate messages. The little girl looked up at them as well, then beamed at Jackie.
I’m the sparrow.
“I know you are,” Jackie whispered, her hand lifting to cover her lips as they trembled. She felt Alex come up behind her, his free hand sliding over her shoulder while his other hand held his camcorder.
He aimed the lens directly at her face, catching every compassionate quiver and poignant smile.
“He came for her, didn’t he?”
Jackie nodded, biting her lower lip as she smiled. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
“Tell me.”
She watched as Mr. Lockwood straightened, his hand remaining tight around his daughter’s. He was stately and handsome in his tailored-gray frock and black vest decorated
with silver buttons. Delicate round eyeglasses shielded eyes of pale blue that looked upon her with misty gratitude. He had the same curly blonde hair as his daughter.
His head dipped in a thankful nod and Jackie smiled in return.
“He’s overjoyed, grateful,” she explained, her gaze falling back to Sally, who hugged her father’s leg devotedly. The little girl stared up at her with big, blue eyes. “He says her mother is waiting for them. He’s going to bring her home.”
“Where is home?”
Jackie slowly shook her head. “The place only the dead know.”
Upstairs, Grace watched in silence. She could only see Jackie and Alex, but she sensed Sally’s presence. It was that familiar chill she’d come to know so well while in the house, the chill that was more calming than it was discomforting.
She sat on the top step beside the balcony, her arm winding around the same banister that had broken the day Sally died. Tears fell down her face, but she made no move to wipe them away. The sorrow was real, as real as anything she had ever felt.
She would miss Sally, after all.
Jackie blinked as she watched Sally race up the stairs to say goodbye to Grace.
The two women met eyes and Grace let out a shaky breath, embarrassed and moved all at once. When she felt the ghostly hand trail over her arm, she shut her eyes tightly and more tears fell.
Strands of her hair lifted from her head, one of Sally’s favorite ways to play with her. Grace wished she could reach out and touch the spirit, but she didn’t know how. She longed for nothing more than to see Sally, to have visual confirmation of what she knew in her heart to be true.
Sally existed and loved her. Just as she loved Sally.
When she opened her eyes, she nearly fainted. For the briefest of moments, she witnessed Sally as she had been in life. Young, innocent, and alive. Not just a ghostly chill or a mist. But a full-bodied apparition as real as her own flesh.
“Good God,” Grace stammered, her hand tightening over the stair railing as her eyes widened with both wonder and fear. Sally smiled prettily and blew her an affectionate kiss. Then she danced off down the stairs and her apparition slowly faded into nothing.
So Fell The Sparrow Page 26