Spooky Spice Cake Curse

by Addison Moore

  And then the flames begin.

  Noah hands Trixie off to a deputy, and both he and Everett help to evacuate people from that mammoth house of horrors.

  The fire department comes and makes sure every living soul has vacated the premises. They do their best to put out the fire, but the flames only continue to grow. The entire mansion is engulfed in an inferno, and all we can do is stand and watch as it burns to cinders.

  Soon enough, the Hearst house is no more.

  We watch, mesmerized, as it collapses in on itself, easy as a house of cards—and with that curse, that’s exactly what the Hearst family has been all along, a very fragile house made of nothing more but parchment.

  Everett does his best to navigate me from the site, but I pause as a lavender glow ignites in the smoke and I see her standing there, larger than life, a woman in a dark cloak, her laughter echoing to the sky. She turns to look at me with those glowing eyes.

  “It’s not over,” her voice echoes softly like a dream. “It will never be over.”

  No sooner does she say it than the lavender mist begins to fade away.

  I have a feeling long after the smoke clears, this will be a Halloween to remember.

  And I have a feeling that won’t be the last of the woman in the dark cloak.

  Perhaps she is right.

  It will never be over.

  Chapter 18

  All hell broke loose in Honey Hollow tonight.

  Or at least it felt that way.

  Noah’s partner, Detective Ivy Fairbanks, drove Trixie down to the Ashford Sheriff’s Department. Noah told her that he would be down at the precinct bright and early. And instead of heading off to Ashford to complete a mountain of paperwork, Noah and Everett took me to the emergency room at the Honey Hollow General Hospital to make sure the baby and I checked out okay—and we did.

  On the way home, I asked if we could make a pit stop at my mother’s, and Everett kindly obliged. Noah followed us over there as well.

  Halloween night is wearing thin, but you would never know it by the look of all of these late night revelers. The entire B&B is lit up with purple twinkle lights, and my mother has the same mood music blaring over the speakers as the Hearst house did, but I can hear little Lea scream every now and again for effect, so it’s safe to say my mother’s shindig is a tad more authentic in nature. Although, judging by the fact the ghost of an irate Canterbury—either Iona or Annabeth burned the Hearst place to the ground—the Hearst house was pretty darn authentic, too.

  Inside, the B&B is hopping as bodies flood the entire first level. I spot Greer Giles and Winslow whipping by in a flurry, doing their best to rock the chandeliers and clatter the books on the shelves much to the partygoers’ delight.

  Let’s just hope they don’t accidentally burn the place down. One tower of flames tonight was enough.

  Carlotta comes over and blows a party horn in my face.

  “Ah, come on, Lot.” She hitches her head toward the two ghosts racing near the ceiling. “It’s their night. Let ’em shine.”

  “I didn’t say a word.”

  “You didn’t have to.” She raises a glass of something orange in a martini glass. “After a few of Wiley’s pumpkin-tinis, I can read minds.”

  I take in a quick breath. “Oh no. That little liquor license detail is about to rear its ugly head again.” On second thought, a house fire might be the only way to get rid of Wiley.

  Carlotta shakes her head. “Your mama’s been fermenting pumpkins since September. This boozy delight is au naturel.”

  Noah groans. “So is food poisoning. I’d better find my father and put a stop to this nonsense.”

  Everett flicks a short-lived smile to Carlotta. “I’ll personally find representation for you if you decide to sue him.” He steps away a moment.

  I nod to this older, questionably drunker, version of me. “I’m glad to see you’re in a better mood even if it took a little fermentation to get there.”

  She shrugs. “I’ve still got Harry. And like Duke said, he’ll wait for me. Each day I get a little bit closer to beginning a new adventure with him. It gives me something to look forward to on the other side.”

  “That’s one way to look at it.” I spot my mother and flag her down. “Anyway, I’m just here to say hello. I wanted to make sure everything was going well.” I shudder without meaning to and Carlotta leans in.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Lot. You think that curse is after you now, don’t you?”

  I glance back to where Noah and Everett seem to be having a serious conversation with Wiley, and I hope that’s a sign they’re getting along—or at least they’re on the same page when it comes to abolishing the use of fermented fruits.

  “Let’s not talk about that curse ever again,” I whisper to Carlotta. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over, just like the mystery of who killed Ichabod Hearst.”

  Carlotta makes a face. “A good curse is never over, Lot. Leave it to you to go and ruin the fun by declaring it so.”

  I give a long blink.

  “Lottie!” my mother trills as she runs this way with her hands up over her head. Next to her is Meg, who looks equally amused to see the entire lot of us standing in the foyer. “We just heard the news! Keelie called and told us all about the fact you caught another killer.” She wraps her arms around me tightly.

  Keelie and Bear were around just long enough to see Trixie arrested. As soon as the house caught fire, Bear hightailed his little family out of there—as he should have. And thankfully, they gave Evie a ride home, too.

  Meg holds up her phone my way, and I see Lainey on the other side of the screen.

  “She did it again, Lainey,” Meg shouts up over the raucous party, and I give both of my sisters a wave.

  “Lottie Lemon!” Lainey spits my name out like an expletive. “Would you stop getting yourself in these terrible predicaments? You could have been killed! And then there was a fire! Forest said it was near impossible to put out. I’m telling you, I think the entire town is cursed!”

  Meg makes a face at the phone. “We’re hanging up now.”

  “Wait!” Lainey squawks. “I’m not done. You have to see Josie’s first costume!” Lainey moves her phone around until we’re treated to a sleeping little princess, complete with a pointy pink satin hat and a dress that looks as if a pink tulle factory exploded.

  We all coo in unison at my sweet niece before we say goodnight and Meg puts away her phone.

  Wiley slaps Noah on the back. “She did it to ya again, huh, son? This little feisty Lemon is running circles around the Ashford County Sheriff’s Department. If I were a betting man, I’d say she was gunning for your job.”

  “I’m not.” I’m quick to dispel any rumors. “In fact, I’d be more than happy if I never backed into another homicide investigation as long as I live.”

  Everett glides his arm around me.

  “I think we should go home,” he says as I lean against him, and it’s not until this moment do I realize exactly how exhausted I am. “It’s been a long day.”

  “I agree.”

  We say a quick goodnight to everyone. Meg says she’s going to stay and help my mother evict all the ghouls as soon as the clock strikes midnight. And Carlotta and Harry say goodbye as they head back to the house, and by house I’m assuming they mean mine.

  Greer flies my way and stops cold before me in all her otherworldly glory. Her hair is blowing back like a dark waterfall, and her skin glows an eerie shade of emerald green—but per usual, it’s a stunning look on her. And that white ruched dress she’s been wearing for years doesn’t look so bad itself.

  “Lottie Lemon, Winslow and I need a word with you.”

  I tell Noah and Everett that I’ll just be a second as Greer and I head out onto the expansive patio.

  “Lottie.” Winslow’s voice is pleading with me—for what, I don’t know. “She hasn’t left.”

  “Who hasn’t left?” I glance over my shoulder to see lit
tle Lea laughing while waving Thirteen’s tail in her hand like a victory flag, that sharpened machete in the other. “Are you talking about Lea?”

  Greer shakes her head as she points a ghostly finger behind me. “Iona Canterbury.”

  I turn as a chill rides through me, and sure enough, not ten feet away, floats that specter in a dark cloak. Her skin glows that strange lavender hue as her eyes sharpen over mine. She looks older, Carlotta’s age perhaps. Her hair is wild and drifts outside of her cloak like a lion’s mane. Her features are sharp. Her chin is pointed. Her back is hunched with a dowager’s hump.

  “You will rue the day you sought justice for a Hearst,” she howls my way. “Something must be done to punish you.”

  “Mother, no!” A younger girl—a very much dead girl, with long, flowing lavender hair, with the same purple hue to her flesh—appears behind the woman in the cloak. “Haven’t you done enough? You can’t go on like this. Your anger is no longer justified.”

  The older woman lifts a hand, sending the younger one sailing out into the night until she’s nothing but a speck in the sky.

  “Something must be done.” Iona shakes her head as she looks to me. “And to think you’re one of us—pity.”

  A lavender fog envelops her, and soon it’s just Greer, Winslow, and me once again.

  “Be careful, Lottie.” Greer pulls me into a quick embrace. “You watch your back—and mind your baby, too.”

  Everett and I drive back to the house with Noah following suit.

  I didn’t want to tell him, but Everett insisted, and so I spilled the supernatural beans.

  “The older woman must have been Iona, and the younger Annabeth.” He ticks his head to the side. “I never thought I’d be using my deductive reasoning skills when it comes to ghosts.”

  I nod. “That just proves you’re brilliant in the supernatural sphere as well.”

  His lips cinch as he parks in my driveway, the only available spot on the street seeing that Hot Hannah has enough bodies on her front lawn to qualify as an infantry. The music is thumping so loud I can feel the bass in my chest, and I make a face at all those red Solo cups littering the lawn and blowing over into my yard as well.

  My rental is lit up like a pumpkin, and so is Everett’s house next door where Evie is probably getting ready for bed.

  I frown over at Hot Hannah’s hovel.

  “It looks as if my mother’s B&B isn’t the only happening spot in Honey Hollow.” I shoot him a sharp look. “And if you say my deductive reasoning skills are pretty sharp, too, I’ll never speak to you again.”

  “I wouldn’t dare.” Everett winks my way as he kills the engine.

  “Say, what’s this secret you and Noah have been cooking up behind my back? I think after the crazy night we had, I deserve to be in the know.” I wink back his way.

  “I was thinking we should hire an architect. Build a house from the ground up that we could raise our family in. Noah’s not too thrilled, and Carlotta thinks I’m adding on a penthouse for her.”

  A laugh bubbles from me. “That sounds amazing. How about we take it one day at a time? I don’t think I can handle another thing before the holidays arrive.”

  “I’ll follow your lead, Lemon. Always and forever.” He leans over and lands a kiss to my lips. “You’re everything to me, and I love you more than you will ever know.”

  We head out, and Noah heads over from across the street with his dog, Toby.

  “This was some night,” Noah says just as a jag of lightning goes off in the sky once again.

  A mean shiver runs through me as the sky flickers on and off as if it had an electrical short in the making.

  The door to my rental opens and out runs Carlotta holding both Pancake and Waffles. And behind her is Mayor Nash in what looks like one of my ratty old bathrobes. It’s not an anomaly for Carlotta to steal my clothes. And interestingly enough, it’s not an anomaly for Mayor Nash to steal them from Carlotta.

  “What’s happening, Lot?” Carlotta howls. “It’s that darn curse again, isn’t it?”

  “No,” I try to assure her as the icy wind picks up to near hurricane levels and that nest of lightning forms in the sky once again.

  Carlotta butts her shoulder to Mayor Nash. “Don’t listen to her, Harry. Run in and get all my valuables out of there before the place burns down.”

  “What valuables?” he asks in a panic.

  “There’s a half-empty bottle of whiskey under my bed and a slice of pizza on my nightstand.”

  He tosses his hands in the air. “What about your wallet and your driver’s license?”

  Carlotta grunts, “It’s just like you to try to stop me from heading to the DMV and picking up a few hotties while I spend the day standing in line. You leave my personal effects alone, Harry Nash.”

  I shake my head. “Carlotta, don’t be silly. The house isn’t going to—”

  A shard of lightning touches down over the electrical wires just beyond my rental, and an explosion occurs, landing a flurry of flames right over my roof. In an instant, all four corners of that roof are engulfed in flames.

  “Oh my God!” I cry out as Noah quickly dials it in to the fire department.

  “Where’s Evie?” Everett shouts at Carlotta.

  “She wasn’t in there,” Carlotta shouts back. “She’s at your place!”

  “Thank God she’s safe,” I pant just as a fireball from the electrical line explodes over Everett’s roof and the sky vibrates with a violent display of lightning that no one would dispute as being the wrath of an angry ghost.

  “Evie!” Everett runs toward his home as the roof erupts in angry, tall flames.

  Mayor Nash dashes into my house like a bullet while Carlotta barks out orders at him at the top of her lungs.

  The partygoers from next door quickly drain into the street and utter chaos ensues.

  Noah barks out a few expletives as he dives into my rental and quickly evacuates Mayor Nash before he dashes over to Everett’s house.

  My rental house goes up in a wall of flames as if it were doused in kerosene, and all I can do is watch, slack-jawed and horrified.

  The sound of windows blowing out riots into the night like a bad rendition of a Fourth of July spectacular. Then, one by one, the windows on Everett’s second story detonate as glass rains down over the street. Both houses burn with a fury, with flames that reach to the heavens, red as sin, hot as hell.

  “Lot Lot!” Carlotta howls. “Your kid and your men are in that house!”

  “Evie!” I scream, and soon a pair of arms embraces me from behind. I turn to see Evie Baxter’s beautiful face, and I sob for a moment into her neck.

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I went to Hannah’s house. She was having a party. I didn’t do this, I swear.”

  “I know you didn’t,” I say as the firemen turn up full force, and I quickly spot my brother-in-law, Forest, in the mix.

  “Everett and Noah are in the house.” I point over to the towering flames. “They’re looking for Evie, but she’s here and she’s okay!” No sooner do I get the words out than a shadow darkens the door, and I run past Forest and up Everett’s driveway. “Evie’s down here!” I shout. “She’s safe!”

  The shadow runs down the stairs, and I can see it’s Everett.

  “Oh, thank God,” I say as I collapse my hands around him. His body is dusted with soot and holds the heavy scent of smoke. “Where’s Noah?” I glance past him.

  “Noah is in there?” Everett’s blue eyes glow against the soot covering his face. Everett lets a few expletives fly himself as he pushes away. “Get to safety, Lemon. Watch over Evie,” he shouts.

  “Everett, stop!” I howl. “The fire department is here. They can get him!”

  A beam falls ablaze into his living room as a part of the roof caves in.

  “I’m sorry, Lemon. But nobody knows that house like I do. And I want that damn fool out of there alive.” He barrels past me, and three different firefighters try their best to tackl
e him, but Everett makes his way into that burning inferno despite their efforts.

  “Dad!” Evie wails as she latches onto me for dear life, and we watch in horror as the structure begins to collapse. A line of firemen gets as far as the entry before trekking around the side of the house. “They’re not going in.” Evie bucks with grief. “Uncle Noah and Dad are on their own, aren’t they?”

  Words refuse to come. Mostly because I want so badly to comfort her, but I don’t know how.

  The sound of glass fracturing once again goes off, followed by a body jumping onto the patio roof from the second story before hopping onto the lawn below.

  The firefighters come at him and hold him up like a couple of bookends. They head this way, and I can see those familiar dimples digging in.

  “Noah.” I dash over and wrap my arms around him.

  “I’m fine, Lot.” He coughs. “I tweaked my knee. I got it pinned under some debris. I’ll be fine.”

  “Oh, Noah.” I pull him even tighter.

  He looks from me to Evie. “Where’s Everett?”

  My lips part as I look back at the unholy blaze that rises high like a skyscraper.

  “No,” he moans as we watch what’s left of Everett’s home collapse in on itself.

  “No.” This time the word comes from me in a horrific moan.

  Evie belts out an ear-piercing scream, and I join her as we wail our grief into the night.

  It can’t end like this for us.

  This can’t be happening.

  I’ve done this.

  Nell tried to warn me, and I brought on this fury, this evil into our lives, and now it’s costing me everything.

  God forgive me.

  Oh, Everett, please forgive me.

  I fall to my knees and howl with grief. I never want to stop. I can’t.

  A maniacal echoing laughter comes from above, and I look up to see that lavender aura ignite the sky.

  “You are paying dearly,” a disembodied voice warbles from the sky.