Haunted on the Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast Paranormal Trilogy Book 2)

by M. L. Bullock

  “Joshua McBride, if you don’t get off my case, I’m going to find a hole to put you in, and then you won’t have to worry about any voodoo ghost!”

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course not, but I’m about done with your attitude. Everyone is out here because of you. Everyone cares. I care! I don’t know how many ways I can show it.”

  Joshua stared down at me, his blue eyes blazing, sweat trickling down his forehead. If he wanted a stare-down in the middle of this cemetery, I’d give him one. This time, I wasn’t going to be the one to back down! Yes, I’d made a mistake. What did he want me to do?

  “Guys,” Bob called to us.

  “Not now, Bob.” Joshua refused to break our stare-off.

  “Yes, now!” He practically ran to us and pointed to the edge of the cemetery. I could see pale figures moving oh so slowly toward us. The sun dipped down almost supernaturally fast. One minute we were sweating in the sunlight, and the next we were awash in the blue light of dusk.

  Joshua croaked, “Are those…”

  “I think we need to go now,” I said, grabbing Joshua’s arm and pulling him away. Where we were headed, I wasn’t sure. “Joshua, Bob. Let’s go to the vehicle.” I reached for my walkie-talkie and heard a low moan behind me. Nearly tripping over my husband, I grabbed him to steady myself. A dead man was pulling himself out of the ground, dirt falling off of him as he climbed up. I gasped as I read the name on his tombstone. This was Simple Touchard—the man from Cassidy’s vision, or whatever it was. He moaned at us, his dirty face turning in our direction. Before I could say, “Wait!” Bob took off running, and Joshua and I weren’t far behind him.

  “This can’t be real! This can’t be!” I screamed as we ran through the suddenly confusing graveyard.

  “Run, Sierra Kay!” Joshua shouted, dragging me through a row of broken stones. We ran until my side hurt, as if I’d run a mile or two. Where were we going? We should have made it to the parking lot by now! And where the hell was Bob?

  “Bob!” I yelled, but there was no answer except for the ungodly moans that began to collect around us. “Josh!” Remembering the walkie in my hand, I pushed the button and called for Midas or Cassidy. The only response was another gasping growl.

  Vet-tu… Vet-tu meong ichway…

  “I don’t like the sound of that!” Joshua said, pulling me close for a second.

  I knew what they were after—they were after Joshua! Feeling protective, I shouted, “You can’t have him, Ettawa! This isn’t Quincy Justice. This is Joshua McBride, my husband! He isn’t yours! Go back to where you came from!” Completely panicked now, I realized we were surrounded. And the only way to retreat from the approaching ghost horde was to seek shelter in the piney woods. What the heck? These woods weren’t here when we got here!

  “Sierra, they’re all saying it now.” Joshua’s voice was laced with fear. I lost my own voice completely as I saw a young woman with a crooked neck and drawn hands crawl toward us. Joshua was right. She whispered with her dead lips, Vet-tu meong ichway…

  “I know what that means! I don’t know how, but I know what that means! Joshua, please! Come with me! If we get off the property, perhaps Ettawa’s magic will be broken! Run, baby!”

  And we did run. Thankfully, the Ghost Queen’s slaves weren’t fast, but they were persistent. As we ran, a hand from some forgotten grave pushed up from the ground and quickly curled around my ankle. I let out a terrified scream as Joshua kicked at the hand and dragged me away from the reaching phantom.

  “Where are we?” I stood panting when I realized we were completely encircled by pine trees now. And in front of me, now assembled, was the stone altar. I knew exactly where we were, but when we were was another story.

  Then she stepped out of the dusk, and the air shimmered around us. I smelled her before I saw her clearly. She smelled like blood and iron and something else…ah, yes. Ettawa reeked of magic. Dark magic. The kind she handled in life, the kind that caused her so much suffering.

  “Joshua, stay behind me.” I reached behind me to push him out of the way, but he wasn’t there. “Joshua!” I yelled as I watched in horror. An old rose vine slid down from the pine tree, wrapped itself around my husband’s leg and dragged him to the altar stone. Before I could object, four ghosts pinned his limbs down as Ettawa floated toward him. “This can’t be happening! Joshua!” I cried as the group began to repeat the horrible phrase I heard earlier.

  Vet-tu…

  Mine, mine, this soul is mine…always…

  I found myself similarly secured with old vine ropes, pulled tight to a tree. I blinked rapidly, hoping I would somehow wake myself up from this god-awful nightmare. That had to be it! This was a nightmare!

  But then another figure entered the dark circle. Cassidy! “Ettawa Maybee!” she yelled over the noisy chanting, and everything stopped. The Ghost Queen waved her hand, and the ghosts stood still, their eyes cast down to the ground, unwilling to look their mistress in the eyes, even in death.

  “You made an unjust curse, Ettawa! You cannot have this soul for your payment. He will not take your place, Ettawa. You and you alone must pay for what you’ve done.”

  Ettawa had a stick in her hand, a hex stick, I was sure of it. She smacked it on the ground and growled at Cassidy, but the fierce-looking redhead didn’t back down.

  “You killed Simple Touchard and all his family over a false charge. He never betrayed you, Ettawa, but you poisoned him and put an unjust curse on him. That’s why this happened to you! You did evil, Queen Ettawa, and now it’s time for the evil to stop. You can’t keep killing to keep the Death Shadow away—you are dead, Ettawa, and now you must answer for your crimes.”

  Ettawa moaned as if she were in great anguish and then began to whisper her enchantments against Cassidy.

  I tried to get Joshua’s attention, but he looked like he was unconscious. “Cassidy, run away!”

  She ignored me and walked toward Joshua. “You set him free now, Ettawa, or you will never see your son!”

  Ettawa reared back and let out a scream of anger. She spoke, but not in a language I understood. It had to be some sort of French Creole or something.

  And then Leo appeared suddenly. He was standing by Joshua, watching him carefully. With his small hands, he began wiping away the handprint on Joshua’s cheek.

  Ettawa’s hex stick fell to the ground. She walked to Leo with her arms outstretched, her fingers splayed and eager to hold her long-dead son. “Leo, Leo Justice, come see your Momma,” she cried. The vines that held Joshua and me slipped away, and I fell to the ground exhausted and crying. I scrambled to my feet and made my way to my husband. Ettawa had forgotten about us for the time being, long enough for me to attempt a rescue with Cassidy’s help.

  “Leo, come to Momma.”

  He stepped back into the shadows but didn’t completely disappear. He was refusing her; something was left undone. Something was wrong. This wasn’t going to go well. Ettawa screamed again and turned to Cassidy, who raised her hand. I didn’t think Cassidy even saw us there. Was she having a vision about us? Were we dreaming? I slapped Joshua’s face lightly, trying to wake him up. So far, he hadn’t opened his eyes, and I grew more worried by the second.

  “No, Ettawa, you have to pay the price. You cannot avoid it. Pay the price, answer for your crimes, and maybe one day you will hold Leo again.”

  Ettawa snarled and stomped toward Cassidy. I managed to pull a half-awake Joshua off the altar as Ettawa captured Cassidy with her vines. The ghosts reappeared and were ready to do her bidding. Having rejected Joshua as her victim for whatever reason, she had chosen Cassidy.

  Then Leo appeared again. A white light shone around him…it was dull and fuzzy at first but grew as I watched him. He released Cassidy and lay on the altar. His mother fell on her knees, unwilling or unable to stop him. The white light continued to shine around him. Ettawa, crying now, her dark eyes luminous and heartbroken, crawled on the altar stone wi
th him. Soon the white light surrounded them both. The light surged once, and then they were gone.

  The ghosts and the Ghost Queen had all disappeared. The altar had changed, now broken again, and the air was thick and humid.

  The three of us, Cassidy, Joshua and I, held one another and cried for relief. But Cassidy soon began to walk around calling Leo’s name. It became clear that the boy was gone. He’d done what he’d come to do, stop his mother and maybe bring her to a place that would grant her the peace she so needed. Whether she deserved that peace…who could say?

  Midas and Bob entered the clearing, both demanding to know what had happened. I threw my arms around Midas and cried on his shoulder.

  “I want a raise, Midas Demopolis,” I said as I pulled away and slid into Joshua’s arms.

  “Me too, Sierra. Me too.”

  The five of us walked out of the Valhalla Cemetery knowing that the Ghost Queen had finally been defeated by her own son. By laying himself on that altar, he was reminding her that he’d already died—ironically, by her own hands—and that his sacrifice was enough. No others needed to be made. With his death, the unjust curse had ended. Ettawa needed no more victims to appease whatever it was that had allowed her to remain in this realm and continue her search for Leo. That knowledge was too dark for me, and I didn’t want to understand whatever deeper meanings were there. Best to leave those kinds of things alone. Yes, the search was over now.

  It was time to move on, Ettawa.

  Epilogue—Cassidy

  With nervous hands, I removed my sister’s painting from the back of the closet where I’d hidden it two months ago. After the disappointment at not finding any clues about Kylie in the lot I’d painted, I felt like I’d let her down. Again. Wrapping up her portrait and tucking it away didn’t lessen the guilt I felt, but at least I wouldn’t cry every time I saw her face. With loving care and fresh tears, I slid the portrait out. I’d wrapped her picture in a plain sheet to protect the painting and secured that with a piece of twine. “Sorry, Kylie,” I muttered as I lifted the heavy portrait out of its confinement and placed it on an easel.

  I had every intention of untying the string and removing the covering, but I hesitated as I reached for the bow. Was I prepared for this? The horror of her absence seemed less real when I didn’t see her sweet face every minute of every day. If that made me a bad person, so be it. At least I was learning to cope now.

  My hand hovered over the string, but the doorbell rang and surprised the heck out of me. Six o’clock had arrived faster than I’d anticipated. Where had the time gone? Collecting my wits, I walked to the door to welcome my visitors, first pausing by the mirror to make sure I looked somewhat presentable. I wore jeans and a paint-free Gulf Coast Paranormal t-shirt, one of the new blue ones with the white lettering. I left my hair down tonight, and it was still a bit wet.

  Midas liked my hair down, I suspected. Back when we were intimate, he would twist it around his finger while we shared pillow talk, and he touched it often when we were alone. I liked that. We weren’t close like that now, but I hoped one day we could be again. Midas and I were friends again at least, and I definitely had feelings for him, but the truth was that I wasn’t going to be a whole person until I found my sister. And I needed to be whole before I could contribute to any relationship. Midas deserved an unbroken partner.

  “Hey, guys,” I said, opening the door to Sierra and Midas. The plan was that Sierra would attempt to pull something from the portrait—she was a sensitive after all, and any help was better than nothing. I had nothing else to go on, no leads, nothing to do but wait for the other shoe to drop, as I had been for over four years. I couldn’t do it anymore. “Please, come in.”

  To my surprise, Midas hugged me and held up a bag of delicious-smelling treats from Demeter’s. “That smells wonderful. Let me call and cancel my pizza order.” I hugged him back and lingered a moment in his arms, enjoying the aroma of his sexy cologne.

  “I’ll go set this up on the bar,” he said.

  “Don’t I get a hug too?” Sierra asked playfully. “Or am I not cute enough for that?”

  “You must be kidding. You’re such a cutie pie. Joshua couldn’t make it tonight?”

  She shook her head but smiled. “No, he’s breaking the news to his Mom tonight and moving back home tomorrow. I’m so happy, Cassidy. I never in a million years would have believed I’d get a second chance. I’m not going to screw this up.”

  “I’m thrilled for you guys. You’ll figure it out,” I said, trying not to make eye contact with Midas, who was not so discreetly listening to our conversation. “I’ve got to find my phone. I never put it back on the charger.”

  “Go find it before we’re stuck with stromboli and pizza. God, if I have to eat both, I’m going to be so fat when I leave here.”

  Shaking my head at her, I walked to my bedroom to find my house phone. There it was, right where I’d left it, tossed on my messy bed. Dang, why hadn’t I bothered to make the bed? Well, at least I had on clean clothes and some makeup. That was an improvement. I hit the redial button, and Johnny’s Pizza quickly answered.

  “Hey there, this is Cassidy Wright. I placed an order about five minutes ago, but I need to cancel it.” After going back and forth with them for another couple of minutes, I had to agree to a store credit, since the pizza girl apparently didn’t know how to refund my money. I walked back into the front room and went to help Midas with the food.

  “Who wants wine and who wants water?” I asked.

  “Since I’m here in an official capacity, I’ll take a bottle of water,” Midas said as he took the lids off the containers.

  I answered in a low voice, “This hardly looks like work. You sure I can’t tempt you…with just one glass?”

  In my cramped kitchen, we were just a few inches away from one another. In a quiet whisper, he confessed, “You are always a temptation, Cassidy Wright. No wine necessary.”

  Checkmate. Midas never overtly flirted with me, but he got me there. Hearing that thrilled me down to my toes. What about your promise to yourself to be “whole” before you started dating again?

  “What the heck? Cassidy, what did you do to the painting?” Sierra was on the other side of the bar in the alcove near the window where I’d placed the easel.

  “What is it? Is it scratched? I covered it up while I had it in storage.” I padded over to the portrait and walked around to see what she was talking about. And I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Not at all.

  My sister was gone.

  All the other elements of the portrait remained the same. The field of flowers, the water tower, the gray edge of the building that I now knew used to be a bait and tackle shop. Everything was as I had left it, except Kylie. The only thing that remained of her was the red ribbon. It looked like she’d pulled it out of her hair and left it behind.

  I muffled a scream with my hands. “I didn’t do this. I didn’t. I swear! This can’t be happening.”

  Midas stood behind me now, staring at the empty portrait, a baffled expression on his face. Sierra touched the painting and said, “Someone has been here. A man.”

  “Kylie!” I whispered, still in shock at what I was seeing. I stepped closer. Nobody had painted over it. It was as if she’d never been there. I touched the painting too, but the paint was as dry as a bone. No dampness at all.

  Midas flipped on the light, and the three of us studied the picture. I gasped at the horrible sight. This couldn’t be happening.

  “Wait, what’s that? In the corner there, lower right.” Sierra pointed to a small triangle of blue fabric, just like the blue fabric of Kylie’s dress.

  “That’s her dress! That’s Kylie’s dress.”

  Still staring at the painting, I reached behind me and grabbed a barstool and sat down before I fell. Sierra’s hand traveled over the painting while Midas took a digital recorder out of his pocket.

  Sierra’s face saddened, and she said, “Oh no. He moved her. She was there,
Cassidy. I’m sorry. She was there, but he moved her so no one would find her. She left you a clue, though. Two clues. That ribbon is one. It means something. Are you sure you don’t recognize it?”

  “No, I don’t,” I answered sharply. Still, I moved closer and studied it. “It’s just a ribbon. There’s nothing special about it. Kylie didn’t wear ribbons, and neither did I.”

  Midas’ arm went around my shoulder as we continued to watch Sierra work. She paced the floor around the painting, tapping her lip with her finger. Then she searched my face, like she wanted to ask me something but wasn’t sure how.

  “I’m going to try and talk to Kylie, Cassidy. I don’t know that she’s…dead, but somehow I know that she’s trying to connect with you. Maybe she’s like you and has some supernatural ability. I want to do an EVP in here if that’s okay. Usually, I would never suggest you do such a thing in your own home, but this is where the activity has been, around your artwork. I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”

  “Go ahead. I have to know what happened to Kylie, Sierra.”

  She nodded glumly and accepted the recorder from Midas.

  “Sierra, in Cassidy’s apartment. It’s 6:10 pm. Kylie, are you here? My name is Sierra; I am Cassidy’s friend.” She waited a few seconds before speaking again. “I’m not here to scare you or frighten you. I want to help you find your way back to Cassidy—back home.”

  I heard shuffling, and then a sound like someone slid a book across the floor nearby. Midas heard it too and walked around the living room to see if he could detect where the sound came from. After a minute of searching, he shook his head and said, “I can’t be sure. Keep going, Sierra.”

  “If that was you making that noise, Kylie, could you do it again?” To my surprise, we heard the sound again. It was coming from the direction of my couch—could it be under it? I had some art books on my coffee table but nothing under the sofa as far as I knew.

  “You have a flashlight?” Midas asked as he squatted down next to the couch.