Ghostly Wedding (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 3)

by Aubrey Harper

  “I happen to love this town,” Gran said. “But I also love my granddaughter. This is just getting too dangerous, isn’t it? Poor Mrs. Valentine.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Gran. I know you two were close. But that’s exactly why I need to do this. I don’t want these spirits to hurt anyone else.”

  Before we could argue any more, the sheriff’s ghost flew in.

  “They’re coming! They’re coming!” He yelled.

  “It looks like I won’t have to be going anywhere after all,” I said. “The spirits are coming here.”

  Seventeen

  “You can’t be serious?” My mother said, looking around the great hall. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll at least feel them soon enough.” Then I turned to the crowd at large. “Brace yourselves! The evil spirits are coming!”

  That caused the obvious panic, though there were a few people that just laughed it off as the ravings of a lunatic. How I wished that were true, but it wasn’t.

  I tried to improvise and then suddenly I got an idea. I just wished that Jonathan was there because he was actually the only person we knew that was in danger since he was related to Mrs. V.

  I got hold of the salt and instructed all my family members to stay in one place. Kane was there too and a few other people as well.

  “I’m going to create a salt circle around us,” I said. “Hopefully that slows them down at least. I suggest everyone do the same.”

  A couple of people took me up on the offer, but more than a few just stood around looking at me like I was crazy.

  “We don’t have enough time,” I implored them. “Unless you want to be the next victim, that is, then just chill away.”

  They still didn’t budge. Once the circle of salt was drawn, I went inside.

  “Sorry guys,” I said to Rebecca, Mrs. V, and the sheriff. “But only the living are allowed inside. I hope.”

  The rogue spirits had already shown that they were powerful enough to blow away salt, but this was the only thing I could think of.

  “Is this really going to work?” Sarah said. “And shouldn’t we be calling Jonathan over?”

  “He knows about the salt,” I said. “If he’s smart, he’ll listen. Whether this will work or not I don’t know, but I had to do something.”

  “I need to get another drink,” my father said, almost breaking the salt circle.

  “No,” I said as I pushed him back inside, careful not to create an opening in the circle.

  Just then Jonathan and a couple of other officers came running into the great hall. “They’re here!” He yelled. “They’re here!”

  “Come inside the circle,” Sarah yelled after him.

  He joined us just as one of the spirits almost touched his shoulder.

  The spirit was forcefully pushed back as soon as it tried to enter the salt circle.

  “It worked,” Sarah said. “It really worked.”

  She held on tight to Jonathan, who looked more than a little shaken. “I can see them. I can see them,” he kept repeating.

  “I can’t see a thing,” my father said. “You’re all crazy. Was there some kind of a gas leak here? Maybe you’re all hallucinating.”

  “Shut up, dad,” Troy said.

  “You don’t get to talk to me like that, you little dweeb,” our father said.

  Before they could get into a fight and compromise the circle, I stepped in between them.

  “Stop it,” I said. “The spirits will feed off of the negativity and become even more powerful. Is that what you want?”

  “Sorry, sis,” Troy said. “He just makes it so hard, you know?”

  “I know.” I was sympathetic to his plight.

  “Let me out of here,” my father basically pushed me out of the way.

  Kane and Troy stopped him before he could break the circle.

  “Does anyone else hear that?” Jonathan said.

  I heard it too. A terrible screeching as the spirits circled us, trying to get to him.

  “It’s all right, they can’t break through,” I reassured him.

  Rebecca, the sheriff, and even Mrs. V tried to interact with the rogue spirits, but to no avail. Once they realized they couldn’t break through the salt circle, they turned their attention on those who didn’t believe, and somehow didn’t even see them.

  “Watch out!” I warned them as several spirits went in their direction.

  “You guys look ridiculous,” said a college-aged guy with a beer in his hand. And then a rogue spirit went right through him and he dropped the beer he was holding, shattering the glass bottle in the process.

  He screamed like a little girl and ran into our circle of salt.

  “What the hell was that?” He said once he was safely inside.

  “A vengeful spirit,” I said.

  The same thing happened to several of the other naysayers and pretty soon, we were all in salt circles. Ours was packed and the others were overfull as well.

  The only ones that weren’t in salt circles now were the vengeful spirits and the good old regular ghosts.

  The lights started to flicker the more frustrated the vengeful spirits became.

  “They’re going to kill someone again!” A woman’s voice said from one of the other salt circles.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” said one of the other naysayers.

  “There must be something in these drinks,” my father said. “Because I’m starting to feel the chills, too.”

  The lights started to flicker more and more, while the room started to fill up with more and more vengeful spirits. Pretty soon they would be a collective and they had already shown what they could do as a collective. They could break through salt lines and even attack the living and dead alike.

  I used the remaining salt to create another circle of salt around Jonathan, just in case the first one didn’t hold.

  “Is that really necessary?” Sarah asked, obviously worried about her husband.

  “It’s just a precaution,” I said, trying to keep all the panic out of my voice.

  “I’m a dead man walking, aren’t I?” Jonathan said.

  “You’ll be fine, man,” Jackson reassured him. “We’ll protect you if those damn ghosts try anything.”

  Jonathan smiled a weak smile. “Thanks, that means a lot.”

  “Yeah man, we got your back,” said another officer.

  They all huddled around him, careful not to break the salt that encircled him.

  The flickering was getting worse and the spirits were getting even more restless. I stepped forward to the edge of the circle.

  Kane held me back. “What do you think you’re doing?” He said. “You’re not actually thinking of going out there and facing those things?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” I said. I pointed to the fistful of salt I held in my right hand. “If they try anything, I’ll just throw this at them.”

  “Remember how that worked out last time?” He reminded me.

  “I remember. But I have to try something, don’t I? If I don’t, this will never end.”

  Kane didn’t look happy about it, but he let me go. “Please come right back the moment it gets to be too much, okay?”

  “I promise,” I said.

  Kane and Troy positioned themselves right behind me, just in case the spirits tried to throw me around like a rag doll again.

  “Here goes nothing,” I said as I stepped over the salt circle’s edge.

  As soon as I did so, I could feel the difference in the air and even the look of the great hall. It was lighter before, but now it was darker, as if I had stepped into another dimension, which I guess in some way, I probably did.

  “They’re dangerous,” Rebecca said. “And I can’t fight them off if they try anything.”

  “It’s all right, Rebecca,” I said.

  Then I turned my attention to the spirits flying about.

  “Hey, mean Caspers, I’m here
. Wanna talk?”

  They all turned toward me at once.

  “One at a time,” I warned them. “I’m here to hear your grievances. I can help you move on and let go.”

  To my surprise, one of the spirits did actually take me up on the offer. It stepped in front of me. I could not make out whether it had been male or female. It was just a blurry, ghostly form now. It was barely humanoid.

  “Revenge!” The spirit hissed at me.

  “That much is obvious, buddy, but I want to know why. The people who did whatever they did to you are long dead. Why attack their descendants? Doesn’t that seem a bit unfair? You’re hurting innocent people.”

  I wasn’t even sure if the thing in front of me understood what I was trying to convey, but it was worth a shot.

  It just floated there in the air, giving off an angry energy. Pain and anger and vengeance seemed the only things that it could feel. It was actually kind of sad.

  “Show me,” I said. “Show me how they wronged you.”

  The vengeful spirit flew in closer, almost touching me now. I forgot how to breathe and my heart felt like it would beat out of my chest.

  Rebecca stepped forward, but the spirit just pushed her aside.

  I turned to see if she was all right and saw her slowly reforming back to her human form.

  “Now it’s your turn!” The spirit hissed as it charged at me.

  I instinctively blew the salt into it, and its form immediately dissolved. Before it had a chance to reform itself, I ran back into the salt circle. Kane put his arms around me.

  “That was a close one,” I said.

  “I told you it was a bad idea,” he said.

  “It was worth a shot. I really felt like I was about to get through that thing, but I guess it was just wishful thinking.”

  “Don’t ever do that again,” Gran said.

  “Don’t worry, Gran, I don’t plan on it. I would just like to get one of these ghosts alone. Only then do I think they’ll be able to tell me what their problem is.”

  Once the spirit reformed, it looked a lot angrier than before.

  “You’ll pay for this!” It screeched like some kind of demon from those horror movies.

  Then it flew out of the great hall, the other spirits following it.

  Once they were gone, the lights stopped flickering.

  “They’re gone,” I said, finally breathing normally again. “At least for now.”

  The sense of relief in the room was palpable. But how long it was going to last remained to be seen.

  Eighteen

  Jonathan immediately got out of the salt circle.

  “It’s not safe,” Sarah pleaded with him. “You need to stay inside.”

  “No, I’m not cowering here like some coward. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want to get out of this wretched place. I’m not letting them hurt anyone else, that’s for sure.”

  “And how do you plan on doing that?” I asked him.

  “You’re coming with me, Meredith. We’ll put these spirits to rest one way or another. Where’s Father Young?” he asked, looking around the great hall.

  “Right here,” the young priest said, getting out of one of the other salt circles. Most people were still in the salt circles, not willing to risk another attack.

  “Can you make some holy water?” Jonathan asked him.

  The young priest nodded. “Yes, I just need to bless it. Why?”

  “Maybe it will slow them down. If they’re as evil as they seem, it should.”

  I shook my head. “They’re not demons, Jonathan. But I guess if they were religious, it might work. So I guess it’s worth a shot. I certainly don’t have a better idea.”

  “Good. Let’s go to the kitchen and get some water and do this thing,” Jonathan said.

  Jackson, Troy and Kane joined us, as did Rebecca and Mrs. V. The sheriff stayed behind in case the other spirits decided to come back. He was our early warning system.

  Sarah wanted to come, too, but Jonathan said that she was safer inside the salt circle.

  “I’m not the one they’re going after,” she said, stepping out of the circle.

  “Fine, let’s go, but the rest of you should stay here.”

  The hotel manager was rattled and he didn’t offer to go with us. Thankfully, we already knew the way since our trip for the salt, which seemed a lifetime ago now. We all had a bit of salt on us now, just in case. We instinctively huddled around Jonathan as we made our way there.

  “What say you, Father Young?” Troy asked the young priest. “What do you think is happening here? You’ve been awfully quiet since all this started.”

  “Honestly? I have no idea,” Father Young said.

  “That’s no fun.” Troy was persistent, I had to give him that. “You must have an opinion.”

  “I don’t like to share opinions that aren’t informed by facts.”

  “Seeing those things wasn’t enough reality for you, huh?” Troy prodded.

  “He does have a point,” I said. “Of course, I’m sure once all this is over, people will just pretend like it never even happened.”

  “That’s not what I said. I did see some things moving in the air, but I can’t personally say if they’re ghosts or demons or what. But I try to keep an open mind.”

  Father Young didn’t look like he wanted to continue this conversation, so I changed the subject. Only slightly, but still.

  “Have you ever seen an exorcism, Father?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “That was before my time. The church rarely does those anymore. I did see a video of one, though.”

  “Interesting. How was it?” I asked.

  “Horrifying. I hope I’m never called to do that.”

  “Father, you know I’ll have to interview you,” Troy said. “I’m writing a script for what possibly might be a horror movie.”

  “You can find me at the church any day of the week,” he said. “Though someone always pops in, so I can’t promise you won’t have to wait in line.”

  “Are these someones usually women of a certain age?” I asked, teasing the young priest.

  “They’re all ages, actually,” he said, without a hint of irony. “Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, I was just curious. The kitchen is this way,” I said as I led them inside.

  The cooks were long gone by now, probably huddled in one of the salt circles, hiding from murderous ghosts they probably didn’t even believe in until today.

  Jonathan took a pot and filled it with cold water. “Will this do, Father Young?” He said as he put the pot in front of the priest.

  “It’ll do just fine, deputy,” Father Young said. He held his hands over the water, with his rosary dangling down. He recited a prayer that I kind of let fade into the background. I wasn’t the religious type, and I did actually have less-than-pleasant experiences with church growing up. Fire and damnation and all that stuff for people like me, the ones that could talk to the dead.

  “It looks different,” Mrs. V said. “It’s like it’s vibrating on a different frequency now.”

  I gave Rebecca a look.

  “I see it, too. Human intention and belief do have an effect on the environment, so it’s not really a surprise.”

  I tried to see it, too, but my gift didn’t extend that far it seemed, because all I saw was a regular pot filled with regular water.

  “What now?” Jackson asked. “Do we divide it up amongst ourselves? Are there any empty bottles around here?”

  “Good thinking,” Jonathan said and went in search of containers.

  “A spray bottle would be perfect, don’t you think?” Troy said.

  “If we could find one. I can’t even find regular empty bottles,” Jonathan said. “All I see are some empty mason jars. Will those do?”

  Father Young nodded. “It should do the job. Just let me rinse them out first, okay?”

  And that’s exactly what Father Young did. As he filled the mason jars, we handed th
em out to the group.

  “I’ll keep mine open just in case,” Sarah said, putting the lid to one side.

  “Just make sure you don’t spill it,” Jonathan said.

  Kane took a mason jar for himself, eyeing the thing curiously. “If you’d asked me what I thought I’d be doing today…”

  “You and me both, brother,” Troy said. “I thought I’d be in and out of this little wedding and back to LA by now. But here I am, living through a horror movie.”

  “I wouldn’t say it’s a horror movie,” I said.

  “It’s definitely a horror movie,” Jackson chimed in. “People are dropping like flies.”

  Jonathan gave him an admonishing look.

  “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean anything by it,” he quickly said.

  Mrs. V looked more amused than offended, though, but I didn’t think this was the place or time to share that tidbit with the others.

  Once we all had mason jars in hand, Troy voiced the obvious question. “What now?”

  “Now we hunt them down,” I said.

  “Does that involve going back to that awful basement again?” Sarah said, not looking too enthused with the idea.

  “It might,” I said honestly. “But I’m sure there are people here who would love to stay up here with you.” I looked at Troy and Jackson, especially when I said that last part.

  “Yeah, don’t worry, Sarah,” Jackson said. “You won’t be by your lonesome self. I’m sure Troy will want to film the whole thing, though.”

  “Did you just volunteer me for the basement?” Troy said, in mock shock. “How dare you, officer? You’re supposed to be protecting civilians like me.”

  They both laughed.

  “Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, boys,” I said. I led the way to the basement door.

  “Rebecca will check it out for us,” I said as I watched Rebecca disappear through the door.

  She came back a minute later.

  She shook her head. “It’s empty down there. It would seem that hell is empty and all the devils are up here.”

  “Really, Rebecca, that’s what you’re going with?”

  “What did she say?” Kane asked.

  I repeated it for everyone’s benefit.

  “That’s not scary at all,” Jackson said. “The fact that it’s coming from a ghost’s mouth makes it that much better.”